Hummingbird
by Volleys-chan
Summary: She was weak. She wanted to be strong. He was weak. He wanted to be strong. Misfits brought together under the name of Akatsuki and given a chance to become legends. But perhaps being just partners won't be enough after a while. DeiSaku
1. Chapter 1

Greetings.

I have been working on this story for several long months. I was reading several poorly written Akatsuki stories and just stopped. I wanted a good story where Sakura joined Akatsuki without her whole world crashing in because of the chaos it would cause. Also, people... Deidara would not be there when Sakura was _eight_. So I am writing my own version of the whole Sakura X Akatsuki. Unfortunately.... I made a biased oopsy but decided to go with it. I like my biased oopsy and so instead of marking this Akatsuki X Sakura... I am making it one of the most unique DeiSaku stories out there.

Be warned though. I had help writing this by Hana-chan (Unknown Artist of Hanagakure) so she helped me with a couple back stories and gave me permission to use a couple characters for those back stories. Don't worry. You won't be running into those anytime soon. But if you haven't read her story- seriously- go read it.

This chapter has not been beta-ed. So I will post the Beta-ed version later when it is done!

Enjoy

* * *

_**Hummingbird**_

Chapter 1

_Batafuraikōka: The Butterfly Effect_

* * *

**Disclaimer: Do not own Naruto**

* * *

All she could remember about that special night, was that it began with her crying alone. Her knees had been all scratched up and the other girls that had been picking on her earlier had ripped her clothes. She was sobbing with uneven breaths as she tried so hard to rub the tears away.

The small rosette had long forgotten the time and as crying in the middle of the park. No one would come for her since her parents had died last month and the orphanage was so overpopulated they wouldn't miss her.

But as much as she tried to remember, she couldn't remember the thoughts or memories from earlier that day. The only thing that was clear as crystal was _him_.

"Why are you crying here?" a calm voice had asked her.

The child looked up with jade green eyes and stared up at the boy who hadn't been there before. She didn't need to look long to know who he was. It was obvious since her classmate never shut up about him.

"You're Sasuke's brother, aren't you?" Sakura sniffed as she wiped her eyes.

The boy seemed to flinch at that, but Sakura had barely noticed.

"Yes," he said calmly, "I am, but that was not the question. Why are you here alone crying?"

"Some girls were picking on me… and after they shoved me down for the fifth time and told me my forehead was big… I… I guess I lost track of time." The girl answered truthfully as she looked away ashamed.

"Is no one looking for you?"

"No. My family is dead and the orphanage doesn't care."

The boy seemed to look pained at the thought for some reason.

"I see… what is your name?"

"Sakura. Haruno Sakura. What's yours?"

Itachi smirked at that, "You mean you don't know my name?"

"Sasuke does talk a lot about you, but usually he says 'my brother', so no, not really."

"Itachi. Uchiha Itachi."

"Well Itachi-san, it's nice to finally meet you," Sakura said as she smiled up at him, "Sasuke really does admire you."

She noticed the pained look on his face again. Before she even asked if he was alright, she noticed his outfit. Completely drenched in blood as if he had killed hundreds of men just recently.

"Are you alright, Itachi-san? You have blood on you."

Itachi cursed himself for not realizing that if she was in his brother's class then she was learning to be a kunoichi. However, he kept his face calm as he nodded.

"I am fine. Are you alright? You have your own blood on you."

"I'm not alright," Sakura said as she sniffed a bit, "Everyone just keeps telling me things that hurt. They say I'm weak and will amount to nothing, but I want to be strong! I want to be a kunoichi! I don't have anything else left here to hold onto if I give up on my dream!"

Right at that moment, Itachi swooped her up into his hold. He would always say that it had been because of the fog his mind had been left in after killing off his clan, that he had taken the opportunity to replace his little brother with her so life wasn't as lonely, but at that moment in life, Sakura didn't care because she had found life in those arms.

"Then come with me and I will help you become strong." He said as he looked at her with those deep onyx eyes.

"Really," Sakura breathed in awe, her eyes stuck to his in shock.

"Yes, if you work hard for it. But coming with me will mean a hard life. Will you be able to accept that?" Itachi warned her with seriousness glowing in his eyes.

For Sakura, this was hope. She realized she didn't care if it was hard, it was a chance to reach for something and grab it by the horns and hold on tight. Kunoichis naturally had a hard life from what her teachers had told her, so she had accepted when she first started.

"Then please take me with you." Sakura finally said as she wrapped her arms around his neck, "I want to get stronger!"

"Then let us leave," he said in a dark tone before the two of them disappeared in a swirl of raven feathers.

* * *

Itachi had planned it all. To go in, get out, and to continue on with life as soon as possible. The decree that his family had to be killed was given and he had no choice but to comply.

He was offered the chance to give the mission to someone else if it was too much for him, but he had told them this had to be done by his hands. It had to be him so he knew they didn't suffer. He could not guarantee that with anyone else doing the mission.

Shushi was the only other person that knew of his terrible mission and he too had been given a choice. He had chosen to help in killing off the family, but at the same time came to the same conclusion as Itachi:

The only way to do it fast and efficiently was to have the Mangeko Sharingan.

It hadn't been easy watching Shushi die in his hands like that. He felt a large piece of himself die with his best friend and realized exactly why it granted a new level of Sharingan.

Sharigan users only obtained their doujutsu at life or death situations. When people had said that Itachi was a prodigy that had obtained his eyes, they left out the fact that his own family had cornered him and felt threatened to the point of activating the trait.

They had almost killed him that day.

And for their cruelty, he held a grudge against the elders of the clan who said that any means to an end like that was fine as long as that was the outcome of the cruelty.

Itachi had cried later in solitary when he realized they might do that to his little brother too. He decided that day that his brother would not suffer the same way he had.

Never.

So as he killed his family, he didn't even bat an eyelash. He hacked them all down like the scum they were, that is, until he finally got to his parents.

His father he had no qualm killing since it was all the head's fault for even having to get this mission in the first place, but his mother was a different story. He admired his mother for her quick wit and deviousness. She was he ultimate role model and companion. The only other one who truly cared for his brother.

He did what he had to do.

He had waited for Sasuke to come home, knowing his brother would run home one he saw the mess he had made, and was not surprised when the boy came rushing into their parents' bedroom scared stiff.

He knew he had to kill his brother if he wished to remain in Konoha…

But when he saw those tear-filled onyx eyes…

He could not strike the child down.

So instead he did what he had to do to protect him. He lied. But right when he was about to tell his brother to come after him and hate him-

-He stopped. He couldn't do it. This was his brother and he could not bare the thought of the young boy hating him so. So he told him something different.

"Grow up well Sasuke, and discover what's real with eyes unclouded by hate. Hate will weaken you. So find a pure motive for living."

And with that he put his brother under a genjutsu filled with the best memories he had of the two of them.

He didn't know why he had done so, but perhaps it was because he had lived his life to keep his brother safe. He couldn't lie to him completely and he couldn't murder the boy. His mind worked fast as he headed to the Hokage's tower to inform him of his weakness.

Danzou and Hiruzen had been waiting for him with a few other elders.

"The deed has been started, but not finished," Itachi told them before activating his Sharingan, "But if any of you dare finish what I have left undone, then I will expose all I know about your plan."

That in and of itself was the greatest threat he could have given. The Uchihas had been revered by the public and to learn that the government system had wiped them out would bring a civil war.

Sarutobi was the one that calmly dismissed the other occupants and threatened their lives if any of what they knew got out. He then looked at Itachi and smiled.

"I had figured you'd do something like this," he said with a sad smile, "You realize this means you cannot stay, correct?"

Itachi just nodded, ignoring the emotional overload he was having at the moment, though he would just deny it and call it an adrenline rush.

"Then I have another mission for you," Sarutobi said as he puffed on his pipe, "There is an organization I have just caught wind of and it threatens Naruto."

Itachi knew who Naruto was. He had been put in charge of watching the boy on occasion when he needed a mission but still needed to rest from long-term missions.

"And you want me to infiltrate their ranks and gain information."

"Yes. Do whatever you think will be necessary to carry this out. No doubt that they will catch wind of your massacre and offer you a spot, but as I said, do whatever you think necessary."

"Yes Hokage-sama," Itachi said with a nod.

He was about to take off before Sarutobi spoke one last time.

"Oh and Itachi?" The boy looked at the aged leader, "I will take good care of Sasuke."

The old man probably didn't hear the small 'thank you' that had escaped the stoic teen's lips, but then again, he probably didn't need to.

Deciding that he needed to get out without being seen, Itachi took the route that cut through the park. He had little time and he needed to be out as soon as possible.

Imagine his surprise to find a little girl with exotic colored hair crying into her hands that rested on her knees.

Any other night, he would have easily ignored the child, but tonight, after _what he had done,_ he could not leave her be.

"Why are you crying here?" he asked her in a calm tone as he landed before her.

The child looked up with jade green eyes and stared up at the him, surprised at his sudden appearance. She seemed to recognize him as her gaze softened a bit.

"You're Sasuke's brother, aren't you?" Sakura sniffed as she wiped her eyes.

Itachi couldn't help but flinch. He blamed the adrenaline, but deep down knew it was because of guilt.

"Yes," he said calmly, hiding how turbulent he felt on the inside, "I am, but that was not the question. Why are you here alone crying?"

Her eyes dimmed at the memory, but she was able to speak coherently enough to understand.

"Some girls were picking on me… and after they shoved me down for the fifth time and told me my forehead was big… I… I guess I lost track of time." The girl answered truthfully as she looked away ashamed.

Itachi couldn't understand why a child would still be in the park at midnight though. Would no one look for this child that obviously was lost?

"Is no one looking for you?"

Her eyes dimmed even more then they already had.

"No. My family is dead and the orphanage doesn't care."

Itachi couldn't help but feel pained as he thought of what he had just done to his brother. His emotions leaked for just a moment before he was able to reign them in and give the presences of indifference.

"I see… what is your name?"

"Sakura. Haruno Sakura. What's yours?"

Itachi smirked at that, "You mean you don't know my name?"

"Sasuke does talk a lot about you, but usually he says 'my brother', so no, not really."

"Itachi. Uchiha Itachi."

"Well Itachi-san, it's nice to finally meet you," Sakura said as she smiled up at him, "Sasuke really does admire you."

He couldn't help but feel that twing of guilt pass through him at the mention of his brother's love. He didn't deserve it and it hurt him so. It was about then when Sakura noticed his current outfit, reminding him current predicament.

"Are you alright, Itachi-san? You have blood on you."

Itachi cursed himself for not realizing that if she was in his brother's class then she was learning to be a kunoichi. However, he kept his face calm as he nodded.

"I am fine. Are you alright? You have your own blood on you."

Though she was a Kunoichi in training, she was still easily manipulated in conversation.

"I'm not alright," Sakura said as she sniffed a bit, "Everyone just keeps telling me things that hurt. They say I'm weak and will amount to nothing, but I want to be strong! I want to be a kunoichi! I don't have anything else left here to hold onto if I give up on my dream!"

Right at that moment, Itachi swooped her up into his hold. In reality, he really didn't know why. His body moved on its own and answered the pleading aura in need of attention that the girl gave off.

Later he decided it was because of the fog his mind had been left in after killing off his clan, that he had taken the opportunity to replace his little brother with her so life wasn't as lonely, but at that moment in life, those thoughts had yet to come to him. She needed someone and he needed someone, so it worked out in both their favors.

"Then come with me and I will help you become strong." He said as he looked at her with those deep onyx eyes.

"Really," Sakura breathed in awe, her eyes stuck to his in shock.

"Yes, if you work hard for it. But coming with me will mean a hard life. Will you be able to accept that?" Itachi warned her with seriousness glowing in his eyes.

Her eyes glittered as she thought about it. The more she thought, the more alive she became, leaving the observing Itachi in awe.

"Then please take me with you." Sakura finally said as she wrapped her arms around his neck, "I want to get stronger!"

"Then let us leave," he said in a dark tone before the two of them disappeared in a swirl of raven feathers.

This child was his from now on and Itachi always watched over those that were _his_.

* * *

Sakura had fallen asleep that night riding piggyback on Itachi's warm back. Itachi on the other hand had ran all throughout the night and well into the day before Sakura even fluttered her pink eyelashes open.

"Itachi-san," Sakura said with a yawn as she looked over his shoulder to see that pretty face of his, "Have you been running all night?"

"Yes," Itachi said, only answering her as much as he had to, "We will be doing that for some while, so you need to stay alert."

"Hai," Sakura said as she looked about.

Itachi didn't stop once. When Sakura became hungry, he gave her some of the rations he had in his bag, but he didn't allow her anything to drink, saying that she would have to go the bathroom and that would give them away.

And when they finally stopped, it was because of the fact that they no longer were in the Land of Fire. Itachi had all but collapsed as he let Sakura slid off his back and use the bathroom finally. When she had come back from washing her hands in a river and refilling the canteen that she had emptied that day, she had found Itachi still awake and watching her from the place where he rested.

"Itachi-san, you need to get some water in your body. My sensei told us it was important to stay hydrated. You might be able to survive without food for a week, but only about four days without water and today is the third day you haven't had water." Sakura said as she handed him the canteen to drink from.

Itachi poured a bit out into his hands and looked at it for a minute before taking the canteen to his lips and drinking it. Once he had hydrated himself enough to focus a bit, he pulled out some rations, enough for him and Sakura, and tossed the girl her share while he ate his.

"I have put you on a hard road out of selfishness. Forgive me." Itachi spoke after spending most of the day in silence, "the life of a missing nin is not easy."

"Well then lucky me I'm not the missing Nin," Sakura said with a small laugh, "I'm just a girl who decided to go along with a missing Nin."

"So you understand the situation."

"Not completely… but I figured that it was the only reason you would push yourself so hard to leave the Land of Fire. My sensei showed us the way to read the signs shinobi set up to mark the border. We crossed over about an hour ago."

Itachi was impressed at the knowledge the girl had, but didn't show it. He felt it better that she did not get a swelled head over such things. He just nodded and finished his food before talking again.

"I will be teaching you as we go along. I am hoping to be picked up by an organization called Akatsuki. But until they come to us, we are on our own and are vulnerable to attacks. Listen well because I don't want to repeat myself."

"Yes Itachi-sensei." Sakura chirped as she bobbed her head happily.

Unlike most teachers who would ask her for information about herself, Itachi just rested against the tree, motioning for her to come near and sit next to him. Unlike most people, Sakura spent no time worrying that she was sitting next to a killer and immediately plopped herself down next to him and listened to his words as he talked to her about basic knowledge she should have.

Never once did she tell him if she already knew something, because Sakura understood it better the way he explained it. After his after dinner lecture, both fell asleep, Itachi taking small catnaps while Sakura slept the whole night through.

The next morning, they had another meal of rations before Itachi motioned for her to hop back onto his back and the two of them traveled farther into the Land of Rice. Around the afternoon, Itachi stopped by a stream and while Sakura began making camp, he caught some fish.

While the fish cooked, Itachi told her to practice katas in front of him while he rested. Since she only knew the standard Taijutsu katas, Itachi asked her to perform those. Each time she took a misstep, he would automatically move her to the correct position and make her start again. This would continue until the fish were cooked and after the meal was eaten for about an hour. Then she was to get right back on his back and he continued to run.

At night. He would teach her things like math, writing, theory, and history until it was time for her to sleep.

This continued for eight months. Sakura and Itachi had slimmed down a bit because a lot of the times they couldn't get in a couple meals and had to hid from Hunter ANBU that chased him. He tended not to kill them if he could, but usually left them under a strong genjutsu made by his Sharingan.

Sakura in this amount of time had improved greatly. She knew her katas flawlessly and had even been moved up to target practice, which she also was improving at because of her math skills that Itachi had told her throwing heavily relied on. He had began to teach her about chakra and started her on the leaf technique which helped her focus her chakra to wherever the leaf was and stick it to that spot. Sometimes if they stayed in one spot long enough, she was allowed to practice tree climbing. Itachi was actually a good teacher as long as you didn't make him repeat things more then once.

In time, Itachi could speculate, the girl would be able to keep up with him. But for now, he preferred to keep his pace and have her on his back. She wasn't heavy at all, but that was worrying him a bit.

To his relief, Akatsuki finally discovered him. He actually enjoyed watching Sakura's face as the plant man came out from the ground with his two-toned body and yellow eyes staring at the two.

"Uchiha Itachi?" the man said with two voices with made Sakura, who was on his back wiggle with curiosity.

"I am he," Itachi said while flaring up his Sharingan so there would be no questioning.

"I was told to take you to Akatsuki headquarters." He said before glancing at the rosette.

"The girl is with me." Itachi said in a low voice, "She stays with me or I will not come."

Sakura withheld a surprised gasp. She knew he was trying to get picked up by this organization, so it meant a lot when he would deny access because of her.

The plant man just stared at her a bit longer before nodding, "She will be your responsibility then."

"Hn," was all Itachi said before motioning the plant man to lead the way.

They ran without stopping for a good three days before Sakura finally pleaded to be put down. The plant man- who she discovered by conversing with him- was named Zetsu. He seemed fine with the stop, but she could tell half of him was agitated, so she made the stop quick and after forcing some water down Itachi, she hopped back on and was content for the rest of the trip.

The base was in Ame, and much to Sakura's nerves, it lived up to its name. It rained… a lot. By the time they had finally entered the building, all three of them were soaked to the bone.

Sakura fought the shivering as she slid down Itachi's back and began to follow him as he followed Zetsu down the hall. She grabbed onto his sleeve, knowing he wasn't one for holding hands and was content with that. She was nervous however the closer they got to their destination, remembering suddenly that she was extra baggage and they might kill her if they thought her a bother.

It was about then when her thoughts were disrupted by Itachi's hand grabbing onto the one that held his sleeve.

"They will not harm you as long as you stay close to me." Itachi said as she looked at him wide eyes before her body relaxed.

She trusted him. He would do her no harm. That was how Itachi was.

When Zetsu had finally reached the door he had wanted, he turned around and glanced at Sakura.

"She is to stay with me," Itachi said as he picked her up like a little doll, resting her bottom on his arm while holding her close with a hand on her back just to prove his point.

Zetsu nodded as he opened the door a silently motioned them inside. Sakura wrapped her arms around Itachi's neck and hugged tight as they entered the room. It was dark, not well lit, but there was enough light to see the basic shapes and colors in the room, one being a man with orange hair and silver ringed eyes.

"Uchiha Itachi?" the man said as he lifted a brow.

"I am he," Itachi responded in his usual calm tone that Sakura had grown use to.

"Who is this child?"

"This is Haruno Sakura. She is my charge."

'_He is my guardian'_ Sakura thought as she laid her eyes to rest on the other man's beautiful silver eyes.

"I see." The man said before relaxing in his chair, "We are not a daycare facility so keep her close at hand. Until the others learn she is not to be harmed, there is no guarantee in her safety."

"I have accepted those terms the moment I left with Itachi-san," Sakura said as she gracefully bowed her head in respect, "But thank you for your concern."

The man seemed amused at her reply as his mouth twisted into a grin. His voice lightened up a bit when he spoke again, since he was talking to the child.

"How old are you Sakura?"

"Eight years old, sir." She replied, giving him no more and no less then what he had asked.

Spending time with Itachi had taught her that no one in the Nuke-Nin world would suffer fools or silly blabbering of an eight-year-old girl. If this man was anything like Itachi, she was making the right moves.

"I see," he said as he eyes smoldered, "I will have to introduce you to my partner, Konan. She would love to have another female around and about the place."

His eyes flicked back up to Itachi as he turned his tone back into one of most importance, "I am known as Pein. You and your charge shall call me Leader-sama unless directed otherwise. I will get someone to show you to your rooms and you two will be allowed to rest a while before I partner you up with someone Itachi-san. I usually do not accommodate to extra… people… but the girl seems intriguing. You can leave her in your room while you're away and I will make sure she is cared for during your leave. You will both receive Akatsuki coats. The girl will only have one so she is not mistaken as an intruder, unless she proves otherwise, she is not a member of Akatsuki, only your charge. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Leader-sama," both Itachi and Sakura said as they bowed their heads slightly.

"Good," Pein said before turning his chair around, "My partner, Konan, will be at the door to escort you to your room."

Both thanked him again and as soon as they turned to the door, Sakura relaxed into Itachi's hold. She had been so nervous, but she had tried her best to be brave. When Itachi opened the door, there was an elegant woman waiting for them with blue hair and a lovely origami flower in her hair that made Sakura want to reach out and touch it to see if it felt real, but she kept her hands to herself and around Itachi's neck.

Her lip had a lip piercing and her eyes were ice blue with lovely blue shades of eye-shadow on her eyelids. She looked surprised to see Sakura in Itachi's arms, shivering from the cold rain that soaked her tattered and worn clothes. She, however, remembered herself and what she was suppose to be doing after a couple seconds and reigned in her surprise and put on a dull expression.

"My name is Konan. I will be taking you to your room so you two may freshen up before we eat."

Itachi nodded and followed her as she led the way, but Sakura was slightly curious.

"Excuse me, Konan-sama," Sakura said as she lowered her head a bit.

"Call me Konan-san, child," Konan said.

"Sorry, Konan-san, I have a question."

"What is it, child?"

"I was wondering if you could tell us the other members names, if you would be so kind."

Konan was impressed. Itachi must have gone over the importance of being polite. Especially in a place where her life was on the line. Either that or someone else had drilled the manners into the girl's head.

"We currently only have six members other then Pein and I, but we are gathering more. There is Sasori, call him Sasori-san and remember he has no patience; Kisame, he is blue skinned but very good humored; Kakuzu, he likes his money so be cautious to what you say about such things, his last partner didn't and now he is looking for a new one; Zetsu, he is a cannibal, so watch out for him when he is hungry; Itachi, who you are already acquainted with; and Orochimaru."

Now that was a name that Sakura had become familiar with during Itachi's history lessons. She stiffened at the name, but forced herself to calm down as she managed a sweet thank you to Konan for the information. She knew it would be useful to the both of them, even if Itachi would have just gone in blind and formulated a plan in a second's time. But he had told her to be prepared for things like this, so she was going to.

Konan finally reached a door and stopped at it. She opened the door and pushed it open for the two of them to view the nice room.

"This will be your room. If the child proves worthy to become an Akatsuki member one day, she will be given her own. Until then, she stays with you." Konan said before turning to leave, turning her head with an after thought, "Child, do not open doors that you have never entered before. Even then, be sure that you knock if it is not one that you have been granted repeated permission to enter."

"Thank you Konan-san," Sakura said as she bowed her head.

"Hn," was all Itachi said as he gave a quick nod of his head before taking both him and his charge into the room and shutting the door behind him.

"That child is very interesting," Konan said to no one as she walked down the hall, "She gives balance to the whole situation with Itachi. He is ying and she is yang, together, they blur each other's flaws… interesting indeed."

* * *

I told you... Different.

She was there before Orochimaru fled. She was there before Kakuzu had his immortal partner. And she was there before Deidara was even considered. Heheheh.

For now, we are going to skim a bit. If it wasn't absolutely important to record every little detail or event, it isn't written into detail, just mentioned. You will slowly get more and more- like in 'From Leaf to Flower' (Again, Hana-chan helped write this so she gave me the idea). Hope you enjoy!

You might be wondering about the name- Hummingbird. Let us just wait till later to have that explained.

Happy Halloween.

Kuretori's next chapter is finished! I am just rereading it... so expect that soon.

Reveiw. You know my usual questions and if you don't... well... what would you want in a review? Think about it.

Thankies! -_bows_- Please take care of this story!

Ja Ne

Volleys-chan


	2. Chapter 2

Greetings.

This is going to be a great story, but you need the background of what Sakura is going through- how she becomes as great as she becomes. I would do a time skip if I thought that this was not important, but I think it is. You will see how she slowly grows into the fine young lady she will one day be one step at a time. ^_^

She thinks Itachi as a brother, so that would never work out. So no, it is not a Itachi/Sakura- no matter what it looks like.

This chapter has not been beta-ed. So I will post the Beta-ed version later when it is done!

Enjoy

* * *

_**Hummingbird**_

Chapter 2

_Cherry Blossom Child_

* * *

**Disclaimer: Do not own Naruto**

* * *

Itachi and Sakura had barely any time to rest before there was a knock at the door. It was Konan again and she was retrieving them for dinner. Itachi had just finished drying them off, so they were able to come right at that moment.

Sakura was feeling scared again, since she was, after all, about to dine with some of the greatest criminals known to the shinobi world.

Not at all intimidating.

A lot of sarcasm in just those four words.

Itachi just let her hold his hand again, allowing her to hold onto to him as if he was her only life line. In reality, he probably was, so he let her do as she pleased. He knew that she would not get herself killed. She had already handled the worst of the situation most beautifully and now only had to deal with introductions and settling into the group.

Konan paused at the door as she looked down at the small child who had amused her so. Sakura had already braced herself for whatever was beyond these doors, and was holding tightly to Itachi.

She was so small and cute, even as a half-starved, rag-a-muffin pink haired child.

"Child," Konan addressed her.

"Yes, Konan-san?"

"How about tomorrow you and I go into town and buy you some new clothes," Konan said gently as to not frighten the young girl.

Sakura looked at her with a surprised look before glancing up at Itachi who was staring at Konan as if to see if this was some trick. Konan looked the boy dead in the eyes with her message clear to him. Only after a minute did Itachi break eye contact so he could look down at Sakura and nod.

The young girl beamed as she looked at Konan with a gentle bow, "I would be honored, Konan-san."

"Then I will retrieve you in the morning," Konan said as she turned back to the door and opened it up.

All eyes laid on the door, seeing who was entering. Konan moved out of the way and held the door open so Itachi and Sakura could enter. Itachi entered coolly without any fear upon his face, but Sakura hid herself halfway behind Itachi, looking around nervously as she tried to identify the other people in the room.

Zetsu was the first one she recognized as she had traveled with him for a good time. Kisame had been easy enough since he was, as Konan said, blue skinned. Orochimaru came next since Itachi had described him to her. And Pein of course was recognizable by his carrot colored hair and multiple piercing.

So that only Sasori and Kakuzu.

She glanced at the two she had yet to identify and realized who was who. Sasori was the red head that was staring at her with a bored, impatient look, and Kakuzu was the giant man with stitches who had a finance book in his hand.

As Konan said, Kakuzu loved money.

Kisame had been the first to say something, "Who's the brat and what's up with the little bite-size brat? Are we taking in little girls now?"

"She came with the deal," Pein said as he looked at her again, "She holds some promise. Allow me to introduce Uchiha Itachi and his charge, Haruno Sakura."

Itachi didn't just stand there to be scrutinized, he swiftly led them over to the two seats left out for them and sat between her and Orochimaru. Sakura was sitting next to Kisame.

"Hello there little princess," Kisame said as he grinned, showing her all his sharp teeth.

Sakura's eyes widened as she looked at them, but instead of scaring her like Kisame hoped, she smiled back.

"My what sharp teeth you have," She said before giggling, "I kind of know how little red riding hood felt now with the big wolf."

Kisame laughed loudly as he threw his head back.

"She's cute." He finally said as he looked at Itachi, "I guess she's off my menu."

"Hn," Itachi nodded as he kept his attention on both Orochimaru and Sakura.

Kisame looked down at the small girl and pointed over to the Uchiha, "Is he always like this?"

"No," Sakura said with a teasing smile, "Just on Monday through Saturday, he takes Sunday off so he go frolicking in the woods and sing happy songs with the animals."

Itachi just looked at her. She smiled happily as Kisame roared with laughter. Itachi withheld the sigh that was coming on, reminding himself that at least she was making friends _at his expense_.

"Quite an interesting child there Itachi-san," Orochimaru said as he eyed the pink hair child.

Itachi forced himself to nod in response, trying hard not to kill the man for even observing his young charge. He knew why Orochimaru had been expelled from Konoha and why he was hunted mercilessly, so he would be forced to keep an eye on the man when he was with Sakura.

"Kisame-san," Sakura said as she looked up at the fish like man, "Can you please pass me the butter?"

Kisame looked a little confused at how she knew his name, but didn't ask. He handed her the butter and received at thank you. It was when she addressed Sasori, did the question of how she knew them even surface.

"Sasori-san, can you pass the soy sauce, please?"

"How do you know my name child?" Sasori asked as he raised a brow.

"I was told your name, Sasori-san," Sakura said as she looked at him, "Should I address you differently?"

"No, Sasori-san is fine," Sasori said as he handed her the soy sauce, "who told you my name child?"

"Konan-san did. She told me all of your names."

"But I did not tell you what he looked like," Konan said, interested at how the child figured it out.

"Oh," Sakura said as she looked over at Konan, "Well, you did tell me that Kisame-san had blue skin, I knew what Zetsu-san looked like because he brought us here, Leader-sama introduced himself, Orochimaru-san is infamous in Konoha, so all I had to do was identify who Kakuzu-san was and who Sasori-san was."

"And how did you do that brat?" Kakuzu asked, thinking it had to do something with his stitches.

Sakura looked at Kakuzu and just smiled, "Konan-san said you liked money, so I figured you were Kakuzu-san because you were holding the book titled 'finances'."

All the members other then Itachi just looked at her. She had identified them by simple facts that she had received and went off from there, she even made sure that she didn't offend anyone of get anyone in trouble with what had been told to her.

'_What potential,'_ most of them thought as they looked at the girl who politely ate her meal next to her guardian.

* * *

The next day came quickly. Sakura had never felt as secure as she had that night. Not only had she eaten extremely well for the first time in weeks, but she was able to get a bath with _hot_ water instead of cold creek water. And shampoo and conditioner.

Life right now was looking up.

Konan kept her word and took her shopping. Sakura discovered how incredibly girly Konan really was when more then half of her closet ended up being frilly white dresses and white bows and even a kimono that was white with sakura petals floating down near the bottom. It even had a pink obi.

She even got Sakura a hair cut. It was a short bob cut with straight bangs that stayed out of her eyes. Sakura couldn't help but want to blush, she wasn't use to so much frilliness and such, just hand-me-downs her poor parents had from her cousins.

She manage to convince the woman to buy her a couple pairs of pants and a few tee-shirts, but the woman would not budge on anymore.

"White suits you, anything light really makes you very pretty," was all Konan would say.

Eventually, Sakura just gave up. She was going to have to get use to wearing dresses while she sparred from what Konan was picking out.

When she got back to the base with the blue haired kunoichi, she headed straight back into her and Itachi's room, after knocking of course. She pouted as Itachi gave her an amused look. He obviously thought it rather funny that she was dressed in a white day dress that was really frilly and a matching white bow tied into her short hair.

"Well, she could have dressed you in orange," was all Itachi said about the situation.

After that Itachi began to teach her again.

Soon that became the routine. In the morning, they went into the greenhouse like training field and Sakura would stretch and exercise a bit and then practice her stances and katas. Itachi had finally decided on the style he would teach her, to her chagrin, it was mainly because of her new wardrobe that had made him decide.

It was an elegant battle form that mainly leaned on flexibility, fluid movement, and power. It was like one big dance. Dodging was important, but it also allowed a person to recover quickly after taking a hit and incorporating the movement of the opponent into the dance like form.

After practicing her katas, she would practice tree walking and even was bumped up to water walking now that they had a definite source of trees and water.

Soon they would eat breakfast and dive into target practice and tracking. Sakura loved how it was just like hide and seek. Though she sometimes she could never find the Uchiha prodigy, she usually found him when he wanted her to. Slowly he would hide better, but always within her ability to find him.

After lunch, he would work on her math, writing, and reading skills. They had already finished history to the point that Sakura could teach _him_.

After dinner, they would wash up and head to bed. Itachi holding her close as both of them got good night sleeps, even though Itachi would wake up every so often in the middle of the night. He still only slept in small catnaps.

This was how they went about life for a two months or so. Pein had allowed them that amount of time to recover from their long voyage as missing nins.

Slowly, Sakura filled into her dresses that had been too big when she had first gotten them, no longer being so thin that she looked brittle. Her cheeks filled out the hollows that bad been there and muscle was also starting to show on her body. However, it wouldn't be for a long time when her muscles would be very defined. She had to get a little older for that.

Itachi also had filled out, his ribcage no longer showing and his lean body once again looking normal. He knew that soon he would be sent out on a mission since he was back into health.

Both had already received their coats, and to Sakura's horror, Konan had influence on making her coat. Itachi had the normal black with black interior and red clouds…

Well, Sakura had an off white crème color coat. The inside was a deep red and so were the clouds the decorated the outside, but hers also had a hood that could be pulled up and hers was also fitted loosely. Basically is was more of a cloak then a coat.

Itachi just poked fun at how different she was then the rest of the world. Kisame had also made fun of her at dinner once saying something along the lines of 'it's not everyday a child is raised by a bunch of criminal masters, so it's just proper that you look different too.'

Sakura had punched him as hard as she could, but it didn't really hurt the ex-kiri nin. He actually just laughed harder and teased her about her futile attempts to hurt him.

He didn't know it then, but he was going to regret teasing her like that in the future.

It was one day in early fall that Pein had summoned him. To Sakura's delight, Kisame was Itachi's partner. The blue skinned man had grown accustom to both Itachi and Sakura. He treated Sakura like a niece or someone he was allowed to call a close family member.

Itachi had made sure to go over what she was allowed to do while he was gone and what to avoid. Mainly that meant 'don't go near the psycho sannin'.

Sakura was a little nervous when she was left alone, but she found good company in Konan.

"Konan-san," Sakura said as she looked down at the woman from the ceiling, "Are there any books I can read? It's kind of lonely here."

Konan had just come in to fetch her for a meal. Itachi wanted Sakura to stay in the room if Konan was not willing or able to have the child with her, so Sakura had spent the whole day in the room left to her own devices.

Which wasn't much.

Konan looked up at her and raised an eyebrow at the girl's antics. Of course the child was bored. She was use to having Itachi with her night and day. Though Konan didn't really understand how the girl was kept content with someone as boring as Itachi, Sakura was usually laughing about _something_.

"Yes," Konan nodded as she set down the girl's lunch tray, "We have a huge library full of books. Eat your lunch and I'll take you there for a bit."

Konan had never seen someone eat so quickly but still retain a lady like manner. She almost laughed when the girl finished the last bit of her food and gently patted her lips with the napkin, thanking Konan for the food.

"Alright," Konan said with an amused look, "Let's go."

"Thank you Konan-san!" Sakura cheered as she grabbed the tray and began to follow Konan out.

They went by the kitchen so Sakura could drop off the tray and then headed down the same hall to a room with double doors. On the way, Sakura began to ask some questions.

"Konan-san," Sakura said as she looked up at the woman.

"Yes child?"

"What's a medic nin? Itachi was teaching me about the different types of ninja, but he had to go before the lecture was done."

"A medic nin is a ninja who devotes their life to understanding the human anatomy, the bodily functions, chakra paths, ailments, poisons, and other things that can harm the body and use that knowledge as well as chakra to heal them," Konan said as she looked at the rosette, "A medical ninja is not very common. There aren't a lot of people with the patience to be one."

"Oh, I see. Konan-san?"

"Yes child," Konan asked, a small smile on her lips from the cute manner Sakura used to show respect.

"Could I learn to be a medic nin?" The look on her face was very serious.

Konan could tell that Sakura really wanted this, but didn't know how to go around learning it by herself.

"Why do you want to be a medic? Akatsuki's knowledge is at your finger tips. You could be anything you want. Why a medic?"

"Because," Sakura said with a small shrug, "What's more rewarding then saving those I love around me? While Itachi is good at _everything_, there is one thing he isn't all too great in. Taking care of himself. He forgets to eat or drink water and will push himself a lot. He doesn't do a good job at patch jobs either. So I want to be the person who can do the thing he can't do. I want to heal and save lives."

It seemed that Sakura had thought a lot about it. She would be perfect for that too since she was really good at chakra control exercises, her mind was sharp and she learned things at an incredible pace, and most of all, she was determined.

"I believe our library has a few books on human anatomy. That will help get you started." Konan said as she stopped a door, looking down at the child, "Ask Sasori-san if he knows anything about medical jutsu or poisons, Zetsu and Kakuzu too."

With that she pushed the door open and revealed the library. Sakura was so stunned by the massive amount of books and shelves that she almost for got to say thank you. But she didn't, to Konan's amusement.

Because of the fact that Pein was a bit of a hoarder, he collected scrolls on compulsion. This three mile wide library was almost complete filled with said scrolls and books. Akatsuki loved information.

"Wow," Sakura breathed as she stepped inside, "I don't even know where to start!"

She looked over to Konan, who subtly pointed over to the corner and there was Sasori, reading up on something with a frown on his face. Sakura nodded a 'thanks' and walked up to the puppet, standing in his peripheral view so he could see her, but waited patiently for him to acknowledge her standing there.

She didn't even notice that Konan disappeared into a flurry of papers.

It took about twenty minutes, but he finally addressed her.

"What?" He asked, closing his book in annoyance, "You have something to say?"

"Sasori-san, do you know where I can find any good books on human anatomy?" Sakura said as she bowed as gracefully as she could.

Sasori looked at her with mild surprise, "Why do you need human anatomy books?"

Sakura looked up into his eyes with determination sparkling in those large jade orbs, "I want to be a medic!"

Sasori just stared at her for a moment, "Why? Medics are weak. They are an open target for attackers."

Sakura looked at him for a moment with disappointment in her eyes before they sparkled again. How did she do that?

"Then I will be a strong medic nin able to protect myself and others!" Her resolve was actually quite amazing.

For one so little to take what had been meant to crush her spirit and make her resolve even stronger was something to respect. She wouldn't get far on her own, that much Sasori did know. He knew a lot about the human anatomy because of his collection of puppets and he knew about poisons as well. He could teach her a bit if Itachi was willing to leave her alone in Sasori's presence. Something inside him told him that Itachi would only have to look into those jade eyes before giving in to the idea.

Sasori sighed as he gave in.

"I know where you can find the books, but they won't get you far without someone teaching you. Come on child, I'll help you." Sasori stood up and began walking down the halls of books.

Sakura stared for a moment before her whole face lit up as she chased after him, "Thanks Sasori-san!"

"While I'm teaching you, you will call me Sasori-sensei, understand?"

"Hai, Sasori-sensei." Sakura said as she kept up with his fast pace.

Sasori didn't realize it then, but he would grow quite attached to his young student.

* * *

Well that is a wrap!

Next chapter is very... skimmy. Only the highlights are... well... highlighted, then it slowly starts to go into more detail about her life.

For now, we are going to skim a bit. If it wasn't absolutely important to record every little detail or event, it isn't written into detail, just mentioned. You will slowly get more and more- like in 'From Leaf to Flower' (Again, Hana-chan helped write this so she gave me the idea). Hope you enjoy!

Reveiw. You know my usual questions and if you don't... well... what would you want in a review? Think about it.

Thankies! -_bows_- Please take care of this story!

Ja Ne

Volleys-chan


	3. Chapter 3

Greetings.

Alright. After this chapter, I am going to get a little more... into it. I can happily say that I like my Sakura. Hopefully you'll like this new version of Deidara that will be appearing. Deidara has a unspoken past, so it is open to any and all people to create one in their stories. The Deidara I will be giving you is a bit... well... you'll just have to wait. He's in the next chapter. His debut and the star of the next ones that follow.

But for now, let's finish introducing Akatsuki's little hime, Sakura!

Enjoy

* * *

_**Hummingbird**_

Chapter 3

_Why Master Criminals Shouldn't Raise Children_

* * *

**Disclaimer: Do not own Naruto**

* * *

Itachi came back by the end of the week to discover Sakura was carefully dissecting the fish they were going to be eating while Konan was cooking the rest of the food. Imagine his surprise to discover that she had been dissecting more then just fish.

At first, he seemed a little concerned with her being around Sasori so much, but eventually, he seemed to relax. Sakura had made friends with the stoic puppet man and was at complete ease. She smiled, laughed, and spoke freely with the redhead and he seemed to not mind.

Soon Itachi was called off on another mission with Kisame, leaving Sasori and Konan to watch the girl if they didn't mind. Sasori seemed to have taken a shine to her in the little time he had been teaching her, though he still was his usual stuck up looking self that seemed bothered if spoken to. Soon, she had even asked Zetsu about plants. He seemed to enjoy teaching her about different plants, their effects, and how to utilize them properly.

She had even talked Kakuzu to teach her the little he knew, her swapping his information for ideas she had about saving money. Surprisingly he liked some of the ideas. She had suggested that since Ame was always pouring rain that they should use the greenhouse like training ground and put fish in the pond for breeding, eating, and practicing on. Also add fruit trees so that they had fresh fruit. She even suggested letting Zetsu collect a bunch of plants, which would cost some money, to plant, breed, crossbreed, and reap the rewards because then it would be saving money on expensive antidotes and poisons.

Soon, she had absorbed a substantial amount of information, if not all, they had to offer her in the field of medicine. Practice was one thing, but Sasori had realized that she needed _more_. So he brought in one of his contacts. His name was Kabuto and though Sakura wasn't completely fond of him, he was a good teacher. Sakura only neared him when Sasori was around though. The puppet even decided to learn what Kabuto had to offer. It might come in handy.

Sakura's time soon was filled to the brim with studies, training, and practice. She even asked Konan to teach her how to cook. By the time she went to bed at night, she was exhausted.

When Itachi was around, he would train her in genjutsu. Kisame would train her in kenjutsu and becoming a stronger swimmer. Even Pein decided to assist her, leaving books out in the library that would help her expand her knowledge about things she had offhandedly said she was curious about during dinner. Whenever she saw him alone and studying hard, she would bring him some tea and a snack, to thank him for his help.

The only person she did not associate with was Orochimaru. She saw him at dinner. It was enough for her.

Time went by fast as Sakura slowly began to improve under her sensei's watchful eye. Sasori had grown use to her presence, more so then his own partner's and would prefer the small child over the snake. Her studies had made her improve greatly. At first, she had thrown up over just the stench of a dead body, but she kept coming back. Each time a little stronger and each time a little more like a professional. She was also growing strong in relationships with the Akatsuki members.

Zetsu was letting her play around with his food before he ate it. Kakuzu let her watch him as he installed a new heart and even let her poke around his body to see how that could possible work. She was curious, but even though she was desensitized to dead bodies, she still was loving and caring. It was evident by the way she cared for these mastermind criminals that she valued their lives.

It was just a thought, one day as they sat at the dinner table eating, but that thought had become rather a disturbing question.

"Sakura-chan," Sakura asked as he looked at his little student, "When is your birthday?"

In Ame, unless you kept track of the months, time seems to slip by. Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter were all wet seasons so people often forgot the time.

"May 28th," Sakura said as she looked up at him, "Why do you ask Sensei?"

The room became still. May 28th had passed months ago. She had been nine for at least four months.

"It's September, Sakura," Itachi said, watching her carefully.

Sakura just looked at them a little more then shrugged, "I guess it can't be helped. Kisame-san, can you pass the rice?"

Everyone that had come to love the rosette in some way stared at her a second more before returning to their meals. It was surprising how much of an effect a little girl could have on them in almost one year.

When everyone else had excused themselves from dinner, Orochimaru leaving first followed by the others in the order of social skills from least to most. Soon it was only Sakura was still sitting at the table. She had waited for them all to leave before her little 'I don't care' act fell.

She had missed her own birthday. She knew that everyone else here didn't celebrate theirs, but she was just a little sad to say that she had entirely missed it. She was nine now. She had left with Itachi over a year ago and was now here, in Akatsuki headquarters becoming a grad kunoichi. She sighed one last time before shaking her head strongly and leaving the table to go to bed.

She refused to be sad about something so trivial.

Itachi had come out of the bathroom in time to see Sakura crawl into bed. He stood there a moment, drying his hair before joining her.

"Are you sad?" He asked her as he looked her way.

"Why should I be sad? Because I missed my birthday? You probably missed yours too. I'm not about to be sad." And with that she rolled the other way and went to sleep.

Itachi watched her a bit more before deciding that this child needed to be a little selfish. Or spoiled if she wouldn't be selfish.

* * *

Sasori raised an eyebrow at Itachi.

"We're going to what?" Sasori asked, a little confused.

"Sakura needs a small celebration of her birthday. Any child her age would get one, so I say we at least give her cake and presents." Itachi said coolly.

"I say we give the little princess just that," Kisame chucked, "She won't ask for one. She never asks for anything unless she's willing to trade for it."

Sasori scowled. They were right. She had only asked him where the anatomy books were, he gave her the rest. Zetsu as well. Kakuzu traded with her.

"I would enjoy that," Konan agreed with a nod, "She has definitely deserves it. Plus, it gives me an excuse to make that cake recipe Pein has been hinting at."

Pein choked on his tea, covering it up rather well though.

"I guess at least giving her gifts and cake is fine," Pein agreed, "But I draw the line at singing."

"Agreed," All members other then Orochimaru, who had left on a private mission, said.

"Alright, now who knows anything about what to give her," Pein said as he stared at all of them, "I think she would appreciate anything. So good luck."

With that all of them left, the room to prepare for the next day, when Sakura would have the surprise of her life.

* * *

The day had gone on like normal. Nothing out of the ordinary other then Orochimaru not coming back. She had overheard Kabuto speaking to Orochimaru and it sounded strange. She would keep her senses open for anything strange for the time being.

It was dinner time and Sakura was now making her way over to the kitchen. Konan had told her not to come in an help tonight, so Sakura had taken a nap in Itachi's room.

When she opened the door, she could see that Konan had made all her favorite foods and a cake! Sakura stared, a little confused at what was going on until Konan finally said it.

"Happy late birthday, Sakura-chan," Konan said with a smile.

She was the only one willing to openly acknowledge what they were doing. Sakura just stared a bit more before she smiled happily and hugged each on every single one of them, starting with Konan since she had prepared the food.

She was a little dumbfounded when during desert, all of the members started handing her wrapped presents.

"You guys got me gifts?" Sakura asked a little stunned, "You didn't have to!"

"We wanted to," Sasori said, not able to look at her in the eye as he placed his gift her lap, "so just open them and be grateful."

"I am grateful Sensei!" Sakura said as she smiled at him.

He was glad he couldn't blush anymore.

She opened it slowly, making sure to take care of the wrapping paper so it could be reused later. When she had finally gotten the paper off, she gasped as she looked at the little doll that was made of porcelain and clay. She could tell it was handcrafted since she knew her teacher's work. The little doll was dressed up in an elegant kimono and looked like a geisha. Two senbons in her hair as decoration.

"Sasori-sensei…" Sakura said as she gently touched the doll again, "Thank you."

"I will teach you how to use her later," Sasori said, "Don't think much of it. She was really simple to make."

Sakura couldn't help but smile. Sasori had made her a puppet of her very own.

Kisame was next, because he demanded it. So Sakura carefully opened that gift as well. He had bought her a Kadochi with a white sheath and pink sakura petals etched into it. It was a little bit too big for her now, but he said she would be able to use it in a couple years, training her with one for her size till she was at full height.

Next was Zetsu. He had decided to give her a greenhouse of her own to use and a couple storage scrolls to transfer the plants with if ever they needed to evacuate.

Kakuzu gave her an expensive looking hair pin with sakura petals made out of gem stones. He said that there was a sale so he _saved_ money. Sakura didn't buy his excuse, but treasured the gift.

Pein had given her a whole scroll of notes written by Tsunade the Slug Princess on how to perform her infamous technique on inhuman strength, probably stolen from her when she didn't notice.

Konan had bought her yet another several pairs of outfits. Including three new dresses. Sakura smiled happily, but inside she was sighing helplessly at the fact that they were still _frilly_ and_ white_.

Itachi was the last one. He seemed hesitant as he placed the gift before her. It wasn't wrapped at all, but there was a box. He had said it had taken him a while and some permission before he could make it. So upon seeing it Sakura shot her head up and stared at Itachi before glancing at Pein.

"I would say you deserve it," Pein said off handedly, like he didn't care.

Sakura just squealed happily as she picked up the item and observed it from there. It was a forehead protector! The cloth was a off white crème color with the symbolic Akatsuki cloud in the center. Though she wasn't an official member, she was a shinobi of Akatsuki now.

"Thank you so much!" Sakura said with a smile, "I love all my gifts!"

The others seemed rather pleased with her statement.

* * *

Life continued on. Sakura began to call Itachi 'Aniki' though instead of Itachi. He didn't mind.

Sakura kept noting strange conversations between Kabuto and Orochimaru and finally discovered their plans. Orochimaru was trying to steal Itachi's body.

Sakura, of course, _was_ going to tell Itachi and Pein, but then Orochimaru might flee and escape with his member ring… and Sakura saw an opportunity.

It hadn't taken much, just a little of her charm, some big fancy words to butter him up, him letting her see his Akatsuki ring, and using a sneaky genjutsu to switch his ring for a fake.

He had never seen it coming.

And he didn't even realize she had squealed on him until he was running out the door.

"It is a shame that he left with his ring," Sasori said with a bit of a sigh, "We'll always be one member short."

"Oh…" Sakura said as she shoved her hand in her pocket before putting something in Sasori's hand, "I've had this for a while. I didn't think he needed it with all his plans."

Sasori had just stared at the ring with wide eyes. How did a nine year old play an elite ninja into losing his ring?

"Aniki said he had something he wanted to teach me, I have to go Sensei." Sakura said as she turned around and headed back to Itachi's room.

It was then that Sasori remembered that she was raised by the best of the best, each teaching her their fair share of techniques, more then just medical wise nowadays. He was now teaching her puppetry, Kisame was teaching her kenjutsu, and even though the man _refused_ to admit it, Kakuzu had started teaching her about elemental chakra. Sakura was earth and water.

Zetsu was probably helping her as well with her garden. He had been saying how she was a natural at cross breeding plants. Pein was usually helping her in the library when he thought no one was looking, and Konan was still teaching her cooking and now origami.

That day, Sakura became an official member of Akatsuki. She put the ring around her pinky and watched with curiosity, as it shrunk to fit her finger and felt the connection with the rest of the members, like several shadow heartbeats. She squealed with delight when her fingernails and toe nails turned black.

That was also the day that Konan introduced her to white nail polish. But she finally also got her own room… After Sasori eradicated whatever Orochimaru was doing in his old room.

Several months of teaching her even more, and Sakura had become quite powerful. She couldn't take out A or S class ninjas yet, but she gave B-rank ninjas and lower a run for their money. But she wasn't allowed to leave the base often, so usually all she had were S-class nin to spar with. She swore they all cheated.

She never won a match against any of them, their egos wouldn't allow it. Not to a 9 year old kunoichi.

By then, she had cracked the code for Tsunade's inhuman strength and used it to full advantage. Kisame actually stopped teasing her to death now that she could actually crack a bone of his.

She also had her doll, who she named Tori, and practiced using the doll for things like silent kill and such. Sasori had even picked up her dodging classes. Dodging his weapons was like hell. If she didn't know how to heal, she would have been screwed the first day.

Her healing skills came naturally to her. She was able to do almost everything that Kabuto could, and she was _nine_. The few things that she couldn't do could easily be learned in Akatsuki's library or would require more training on her half. Sasori and she were told to start giving physical exams to the other members to make sure they were all healthy and strong.

It was around then that Itachi's disease was exposed. Sakura had been so mad at him that she didn't speak to him at all of three weeks. But then again, she had been busy making a cure. It took her, Sasori, Kakuzu, and Zetsu to put their heads together to think of a way to kill the infection. When they had made the cure, Itachi was stubborn about receiving treatment.

Sakura realized that he had been hoping to die one day for what he had done to his family. That had to have been the first temper-tantrum that Sakura ever threw. She was flailing around on the ground screaming her head of as she cried.

None of the other members even moved as they just stared. They had no clue how to make her stop, except Itachi. He sighed and agreed to the treatment. She was up on her feet, happily grabbing his hand and taking him to the medical room for the treatment faster then they could blink.

She really had them all wrapped around her little pinky finger.

* * *

It was the first day that she had ever met Hidan did she find a huge dislike for cursing. Hidan had been discovered by Zetsu while he was searching for someone that Kakuzu could kill. At all. Pein had grown tired of trying to find someone that Kakuzu wouldn't just kill and sell him for the bounty.

Hidan was in the middle of sacrificing himself and Zetsu returned and told Pein of him.

It had taken him several more weeks to locate the Jashinist and convince him of joining. He had agreed, so Zetsu was bringing him back.

Sakura had just woken up and taken a shower, getting clean before the day's activities and would wash again before she went to bed. She didn't like reeking of blood and death. It made it easy for her sensei and aniki to find her when they were training with her. She had just dried her hair and put on a sundress for the day and was just about to walk into the kitchen, when the door slammed open and smacked her in the face.

Sakura wasn't happy as she glared up at the silverish white haired man with fuchsia eyes staring down at her. Her hands were holding her nose, trying hard not to bleed over her white dress. She hated it when she got blood on them.

"What the hell is this?" Hidan asked as he picked her up by the back of her dress, "A little whore?"

Sakura cracked her nose back in place, no longer caring if she bled all over her pretty dress and smashed her fist into his face as hard as she could. He released her as he flew backwards and Sakura landed nimbly on her feet, angrily grumbling as she went inside the kitchen where she had punched to man, and began to wash her hands and face of the blood, she having already clotted her blood with her chakra.

The rude white haired man was stirring shortly after she cleaned his clock.

"What the hell!" He shouted as he pointed at her, "What kind of little heathen are you?"

"I should be asking you why the _hell_ you're here in Akatsuki if it wasn't obvious. I'm Haruno Sakura, the Akatsuki medic." Sakura said as she looked at her ruined dress, "And you owe me a new dress."

"Yeah right you little bi-" he began to yell until he was pulled up by the throat by Kakuzu, who had just entered the room.

"So _you're_ Hidan." Kakuzu said with a growl, "You're going to me partner. Don't do anything stupid and I won't kill you."

"Kakuzu-san," Sakura said, turning his attentions to her, "He ruined my dress. I expect someone to pay for it."

"I didn't ruin it! You freaking bled on it yourself you bit-" Hidan began yelling but was thrust into the wall by Kakuzu.

"Don't go calling your 'sempai' names. She's the one who gets to put you back together after missions. Don't tick her off."

"SHE'S MY SEMPAI!" Hidan roared, "I'm clearly older then the little whore."

"I'm not a whore! I am still a virgin, nor will I hit the age to even have a period for probably four years, you idiotic lug nut!" Sakura yelled as she pointed to him, one hand on her hip.

"Shut up little whore!" Hidan yelled at her from his spot.

"How do I know you're not the whore!" Sakura yelled as she pointed at him, "You obviously are older and not in any bond with another woman that would be anything like marriage! How do I know your not a man-whore sleeping around with other women? Or a pedophile! You could just be some gross man that was the last option for being Kakuzu-san's partner!"

"…" Hidan just looked at her like she had spoke a foreign language.

"She called you an unmarried man-whore who probably rapes little girls or boys," Kakuzu said in a straight tone.

"I don't do such sins!" Hidan yelled angrily, "It's against my religion, you heathen!"

"Oh?" Sakura shot back, "A religious man? What do you do? Walk around and _pray_ people to death?"

"Actually I do!" Hindan said as he swung his scythe a bit with a malicious grin, "Pray them to shreds! And then I offer them up to Jashin."

Oh. Sakura heard about the radical religious men known as Jashinists. Pein had made her read up on it not even last week. She figured out why now. Hidan was a Jashinist.

"Oh, a Jashinist. You have a pretty sick religion, even makes my stomach turn." Sakura said as she crossed her arms, "And I'm a medic nin."

"What? Aren't you five?" Hidan asked, his expression lightening.

"I'M NINE!" Sakura yelled unhappily, "I have been here since I was eight! I have been here longer then you!"

"Whatever you say pinky," Hidan said with a roll of his eyes.

That was when both Kakuzu and Sakura learned how immortal the man really was. He survived being dissected alive after Sakura had injected Sasori's paralysis poison. Sakura and Kakuzu weren't happy with him.

* * *

Life was at its peak for her. She was almost ten years old now and had been with then almost two years, she had been with Itachi over two years now and seemed to be the only one to crack the hard case of Itachi.

When he was hurt, he only allowed her to look at him. When his eyes had began to show signs of decaying, he had only told her. He had trusted her enough to probe around with chakra to see what was wrong. Sakura, of course, pulled through at the end and learned an extensive amount on rebuilding the human eye because of it.

Kisame was still teaching her kenjutsu, though he usually ended up using playful banter to win the fight. She was a dead on serious fighter, but only Kisame was able to get her laughing in the middle of a full out spar. He was extremely supportive of her learning to fend for herself and had actually sent her out numerous occasions to do small tasks for him since he couldn't be seen in public. That often meant getting his sake- though that ended when Itachi found out. She constantly cleaned his liver and scolded him for not taking care of himself.

He would just smile and say, "If I took care of myself, then you'd be out of a job, princess."

He was always right. Despite his layback appearance, he was a cunning, quick-witted man.

Sasori was still her absolute sensei. He would spend hours with her, teaching her and grooming her into a force to be reckoned with. He taught her puppetry, though she preferred it in more sneaky attacks; poison making; art of seduction, though she wasn't old enough to properly perform it on enemies; throwing weapons and dodging weapons; how to perform the tea ceremony correctly; and so much more that she couldn't remember what all the little things he had taught her. Yet that was why he was her sensei above everyone else.

It was hard sometimes to believe that he was a puppet. He use to hate showing emotions and touching others, but she soon found him patting her on the head and smiling at her when she did something right. When she was scared, he held her hand and walked her through it, giving a sense of empathy for her fear. He even would take her to her room after late night sessions, cradling her sleeping form in his arms, place her in bed, and- only when she feigned sleep really well did she discover this- he would kiss her forehead before going back to work. Though he would never do this for another member, he did so freely with her.

Konan was another one of the stranger relationships she had. The woman always had a stoic look on her face, she never smiled much and she never spoke unless you addressed her first usually. But the more time Sakura spent with her, the more she could see the tender motherly love the woman could have. She had laughed a couple times when it had just been her and Sakura and found something the young girl did utterly adorable- which was her weak point. She would act like a mother to the rosette and was even the one who taught her about the birds and the bees- Sakura was grateful that it didn't have to be someone like Itachi or Sasori.

She sometimes grew very quiet and sad, but Sakura would make her something and cheer her right up. The young rosette figured that the older woman had been an orphan as well because of the way the woman would light up at the simplest of gifts. She had started out just teaching her how to cook, but one day she just began teaching her the fine art of origami, which turned into teaching her Sakura the more female roles in life- from cleaning to washing laundry to bedside skills, Konan taught her how to behave more then she already knew how.

Zetsu at first always looked at her like she was a snack. Sakura had been a little nervous about that at first and would never put herself in a situation with him alone, but she soon realized that even though he looked at her that way, he wasn't about to scoop her up and eat her like the dead corpses he ate. He taught her all about plants. How to cross-breed and how to create totally new breeds of plants by careful manipulation of plant genes.

She soon was able to get over the fact that he talked in two voices, one being the more polite of the two, while one being more… blatant. It never lied to her even though she wished it would. She practically had field day when he split in two. It took him a while to get her back on track. He taught her about recon- more so then Itachi- and how to properly discard bodies- the normal way, not his. He was still a little distant, though that might have been cause he was almost always on a mission, but he always made time for her when she asked.

Kakuzu had to be one of her favorites. He was a introvert to the extreme, stingy with money, and hated giving anything away for free, but he was the most insightful on life. He knew thousands of ways to manipulate situations in his favor and after a lot of good meals and special treats made just for him, he finally began to teach her strategy.

He also knew how to use elemental chakra better then anyone else since he had lived so long, so as soon as Sakura began to develop her chakra skills, she had instantly began to ask him theoretical questions. It had taken her a couple information swaps before he even began to teach her anything, but she had learned from him that most of the time, nothing came for free, so if something was offered, you took it. If you wanted to gain knowledge, you traded for it. If someone wanted something from you, you made them pay a cost so that you knew that they were serious about it.

Giving things away sometimes just didn't create the proper affect in the learning cycle. If one had to work for it, they would pay attention better because of the fact that they had to earn it.

He had given her a few gifts here and a few free lessons there- which she took full advantage of- but never enough to make her think that she didn't have to earn it somehow.

Pein was still one of the bigger mysteries to her. He would help her on occasions and she would make treats for him. He had a real sweet tooth. He looked sad, but Sakura had learned that all he needed was a pat on the back and a big smile, letting him see someone who may have had a similar story. He could brighten a bit after that and then set her on his lap and begin to go through the scroll he was reading. He one day told her to call him Pein-sama instead of leader, making her smile and hug him happily.

She had one day told him about Konan, "She loves you, you know. She stares at you and her eyes soften. She really cares about you Pein-sama, maybe you should try and love her back."

And with that she had left him alone and wandered off to work. Later that day she had accidently discovered the two making out like teenagers on the sofa. She quickly disappeared after that, pretending she saw nothing.

Eventually she had gotten use to Hidan and his foul mouth. He eventually got use to her and her temper, which was surprisingly short for being such a well mannered child. Life went back to the way it had been before, save now one more member.

Sakura was always curious about the Jashinist. He was immortal, so no matter what she did, he would just keep coming back for more. It was when Sasori spoke to her, did she ever even stop wondering about the enigma.

"Sakura, sometimes there are things in this world that make no sense, the best option is to take them for what they are and move on with life," Sasori had told her before pulling her away to return to her studies, "Now come, I have a few techniques I want to see if you can perform."

"Hai, Sasori-sensei," Sakura said as she followed after him.

Sasori always had the most fun things for her. She just wondered this time if it was a new poison or a new jutsu.

* * *

Well that is a wrap!

Reveiw. You know the happiness that blossoms in a person's soul when you click the little button at the bottom and tell them what you think. As long as they aren't flames, people should appreciate them! Criticism is expected, your comments are welcomed, and I would love to know what you think of my redefined version of Sakura is like. Heck any of the Akatsuki members. You know my usual questions and if you don't... well... what would you want in a review? Think about it.

Thankies! -_bows_- Please take care of this story!

Ja Ne

Volleys-chan


	4. Chapter 4

Greetings.

Da-da-dada!!!! The chapter you've all been waiting for!!! Deidara's Debut!!! Now, as I said. This will be my version of Deidara. And though he will be his usual stubborn self, he will also be... _different_. But that will be a slow change. Wait till you hear about his history. You won't start seeing it till chapter... 6 sorry ;P

Until then, here is the very first chapter Deidara is in!!! I used several ideas that FluffyKeira thought up, so I do not own the idea of Deidara's internal organ structure. I just took it and warped it to my own liking.

Enjoy

* * *

_**Hummingbird**_

Chapter 4

_Lady Luck took a Vacation, Sorry._

* * *

**Disclaimer: Do not own Naruto**

* * *

She had not been informed that Hidan was allowed to sacrifice in the base again. It usually stunk up the place and everyone would get mad at the Jashinist since he _never_ cleaned up his messes, unlike Sasori or Zetsu or even Sakura.

She had just gotten back from traveling all day from a mission. It didn't involve killing people, but gathering plants for Zetsu. Pein-sama had also asked her to find a scroll- which she did- and bring it back for him. She had just dropped off the scroll and was heading for bed when she heard the cries of pain coming from the lounge. She was tired, yes, but that didn't stop the ten year old from taking a look to see what the radical 'holy' man was doing.

At that moment, that very second she walked in, her stomach dropped. Oh, she was use to killing and guts and blood, but Hidan was messier then most. Not only that, but this sacrifice was only several years older then she and was howling in pain as Hidan finished off the fingers.

Sakura looked at the bloody mess, remembering what Sasori had said to her earlier about an annoying blonde brat that wouldn't stop glaring at her Itachi-nii-kun. Sure enough, through the blood and dirt, was blond hair.

Hidan had just slashed the left eye, letting the blood ooze down. The 'sacrifice' screamed in pain as he struggled against his bindings, his eye too beginning to bleed.

Sakura had had enough. Before Hidan was able to do anything more, she grabbed his leg and swung him out of his blood circle, ending the ritual. She didn't care when she heard his skull crack against wall. He deserved it for using their new member as some cheap civilian.

"Hidan," She growled angrily as she walked up to the much taller man and swung her leg to strike him in the face.

His jaw bone's cracking could probably be heard down the hall.

"What the-" Hidan started but didn't finish as Sakura grabbed his neck and pulled him up to her face.

"What are you doing?" She hissed lowly, narrowing her jade eyes as she made her chakra dance dangerously.

"Nothing," He managed to say with the broken jaw, "Sempai, I was merely using that brat to sacrifice to Jashin. Nothing wrong with that?"

He had grown to respect the little female. She had the power to back up her talk. She was actually able to 'kill' him during spars and then would dissect him as a reward for winning. He never liked, but he usually couldn't move.

"That," She moved him about effortlessly to show him the unconscious kid, "Is the new member, you dolt. How dare you attack someone Pein-sama placed in our care."

"That little gaki is our freaking new member?" Hidan was surprised.

"I was told that he would have long blond hair. That was the color of his hair before your dirtied it with blood and mud was it not?"

"Yeah…"

"I will inform Kakuzu of your idiotic blunder, maybe he can put you back together," Sakura said angrily before she made her chakra into a large chakra blade and sliced off Hidan's head, "Next time think before you do something so unintelligent."

She quickly pulled out a rag she used to polish her knives and shoved it into Hidan's mouth to keep his mouth shut.

She dropped the head, knowing he was not going anywhere and ran to the blonde's side. She immediately checked for a pulse and sighed in relief to finding one. She turned him over so she could examine his eye quickly.

It was ruined. If left by itself it would heal blind. Lucky for this brat that Sakura had repaired eyes before and knew how to slowly reconstruct them. She would have to go slow, but she could rebuild it even better than before.

However, the kid, who, after a quick analysis, she discovered was a boy, was much too big for her to carry him comfortably, so she would have to recruit.

It was late at night, most likely about midnight, so there was no one awake that could help, so her only option was the only one who wouldn't hurt her for waking him.

Sakura, after so many years of being by Itachi's side, no longer knocked on his door. Instead, she just let herself in and would do as she pleased.

She quietly entered his room and approached the bed, but not before flaring her chakra a bit. Itachi stirred in his bed and turned around to see his little charge.

"What is it?" Itachi said with no evidence of just waking in his voice.

"Hidan really did something stupid and I need help carrying his poor victim to my room for healing," Sakura said as she yanked on his arm.

"Who was his victim?" Itachi said as he rose out of bed and began walking with the young girl.

"I think he was the new member, but I'm not sure. You retrieved him, correct, Aniki?"

"Hn." Translation: _yes, I did so._

"Good, then you will be able to verify," Sakura said as she led him to the area she had found him in.

The boy had been stirring a bit at that moment, but he probably was in a deep fog, pain numbing the senses and heightening his instincts.

Itachi spent no time staring at the boy as he hefted him up, only to hear the boy groan in pain. He activated his Sharingan and looked the blonde straight in the eyes, before the boy was out.

"Thanks Aniki," Sakura whispered as she picked up Hidan's head, and began to address it, "You are going to have a long night in front of Kakuzu-san's door."

The head just rolled his eyes as he tried to talk through the rag that was shoved as far as it was possible.

"Where to?" Itachi asked as he walked over to the door.

"My room, lay him on the examination table, I just cleaned it so there shouldn't be any germs or bacteria on it."

"Hn." Translation: _Alright, I will do as you asked._

After dropping off Hidan's head with a note written on his face with a marker, Sakura headed for her room. Itachi was just leaving, but the look he gave her reminded her that he would probably be monitoring the situation by sensing chakra spikes.

"Thanks Aniki," Sakura said as she bowed her head.

He left the room and Sakura sighed as she took off her coat. Her dress was its usual white frilliness, so she wrapped an apron around her waist and snapped on two pairs of gloves.

It was going to be a long night.

* * *

Darkness had surrounded him. And in a brief moment, he thought that he might of died. However there was one thing that told him he was alive and that was the aching of his body. No way was he dead if he could feel the pain of his wounds.

He opened his eyes with a small moan and was surprised to find himself in a bed. Well, more like a hospital bed. But without the hospital. There was a subtle beeping every second or so that played as white noise in the background and he found it hard to see.

His head snapped over to the other side of the room at the rustling of sheets. There was somebody in that massive bed and they were waking.

He didn't know why, but that made him panic a bit. After his last experience with this psychotic organization, he didn't really feel all that safe.

There was a knock at the door, shifting the boy's attention again, and in came one of the members he wanted to forget.

Uchiha Itachi.

He was followed by his partner who had a big grin on his face. Itachi didn't move far from the door, but he did stare at him.

Kisame was chuckling lightheartedly as he began to gently shake the whole mattress.

"I heard someone decapitated Hidan last night," Kisame chortled, "Wouldn't shut up about it during breakfast about how 'sempai is soooo mean' because he wasn't able to finish sacrificing the brat he found."

So whoever this person was they were talking to was that maniac's sempai. That was probably how they were even able to stop the freak.

"Kisame, shut up," a quiet voice snapped, "I got to bed near three in the morning. I am tired and I think my patient is awake."

"He is," Itachi nodded as he walked over to the closet, moving for the first time since entering.

He pulled out a small article of clothing that looked way to small for an adult, but just the right size of a small child. It was a kimono, but more of simple and probably used for rising and lounging around in.

Unlike what the young blond imagined, a small child with _pink_ hair sat up and took the kimono and tied it around her sleeping clothes. She hopped gently out of bed and looked up at the much taller ninjas.

Maybe she wasn't this Hidan's sempai. She was no older then ten.

"Would you inform Sasori-sensei to come in after breakfast? Might as well get _that_ out of the way while we are at it."

Kisame nodded before looking at the blond, chuckling as he left to room.

"I will bring some breakfast in here," Itachi said as he looked at the young rosette, "What type of tea would you like?"

"Orange spice, please, Aniki," Pink haired girl said with a smile.

"Hn," was all the stoic Uchiha said as he exited the room.

That's when the girl's attention landed on the only other person in the room. Him.

"Good morning," She greeted as she approached the bed, "how are you feeling?"

The boy narrowed his visible eye. He had heard her call Uchiha Itachi _Aniki_. Anyone related to that man was not going to get an answer out of him.

"Good, your still spirited, at least Hidan didn't manage to destroy that along with countless other things he did manage to break." She said as she grabbed a remote and pressed a button to make the bed shift into a sitting up position, "I am Haruno Sakura by the way. I am Akatsuki's medic."

"Haruno? So you're not an Uchiha, yeah?" The boy asked, his voice croaking as he did so.

She brought a glass of water that was resting next to the bed to his lips to drink.

"No, I'm not Aniki's real little sister, but he took me in when I was still really small and all alone. He's been my big brother since then. How are you feeling? Do you still ache?" Sakura asked, watching as he swallowed the liquid.

It was a good couple of seconds before he finished drinking, Sakura putting the glass back as he spoke.

"It hurts to move and breath a bit, yeah." He said as he coughed a bit, "And my throat feels raw and my eye hurts a lot."

Sakura quickly put her hand on his head, waiting a second before pulling away. "You feel a bit warm, but not too bad. I'll get you some medicine to dull the pain for you, but you'll need to wait a bit for it because I have to check up on something first."

"What would that be?" He asked, raising a brow as he stared at her.

Sakura walked over to her cabinets and pulled out several items that he couldn't see.

"Just a quick exam. What's your name anyway?" Sakura said as she changed the subject.

"Deidara," He said as he just stared at her moving, "What kind of exam?"

"Oh, nothing much," Sakura said as she pulled out a syringe and filled it with a yellowish fluid, moving close to him, "Hold still okay?"

Deidara started to freak when she pulled him forward to get to his back, pointing the needle at his upper spine. He struggled as he tried to break free from her strong grip.

"Is he prepped yet?" Sasori asked as he came walking into the room after a swift knock and a small flare of chakra.

"Not, yet," Sakura said as she finished injecting the yellow fluid into his spine.

Deidara, who had been struggling prior, froze once the fluid was injected. His whole body fell lax except for his head and his internal organs. The small Akatsuki member just gently took out the needle and rubbed the spot in two circular motions before moving him to the exam table.

"What did you do to me, yeah?" Deidara yelled as he began to panic.

"She temporarily paralyzed you, brat. We need to get this exam done and over with _without_ you putting up a fight." Sasori said as he snapped on two pairs of gloves on his hands, Sakura doing the same thing.

"It's just something that Pein-sama requires of us to make sure his members are a perfect picture of health," Sakura said with a smile, "You're lucky, we didn't have this when I came."

"Not for _you_ anyways," Sasori said as he began to take the boy's shirt off gently as to not aggravate the wounds and cause more work for him and Sakura.

It was easy to see now that he was very malnourished and underfed by the way his ribcage showed nicely. Sakura lifted him up for a second just to check his back. His spinal cord was nice and straight, but easily seen as his ribcage was. No one would have even realized this because the boy wore baggy clothes and his face wasn't too thin.

Sakura angled herself in a position so that she could only see his upper torso while Sasori began to work lower.

"Tsk," the redhead said with a not amused look, "Iwa nins are so barbaric."

"Take that back, yeah." Deidara growled as he tried to struggle.

Sakura just reached for the medical tape and slapped a piece over his mouth. He made sounds of dislike and anger, but couldn't be understood. Not like they were paying attention.

"He has a mouth on his chest," Sakura said as she started poking at it, "What sort of bloodline limit does he have Sasori-sensei?"

"He has mouths on his hands and one on his chest. He uses them to infuse chakra into his clay, making them come alive or detonate at his will." Sasori said as he began to poke and prod at places that made Deidara's sounds grew louder.

Nothing was numbed yet. So he could feel all their little touches.

"Cool!" Sakura said as she opened the mouth and began to study it.

Her other hand hovering over his chest, gathering information about his innards that way.

"His heart is pretty small," Sakura said as she released the jutsu, "It should be bigger and right… here."

She pointed to a spot in his chest mouth, but then moved it upwards and to the side a bit and pointed.

"But it's right here. Smaller then even my heart. That's not good for strenuous activities. Also his lungs are moved a bit to the left and one is half collapsed because of the mouth."

"If he's been a ninja this long, then he probably has overcome the problem," Sasori said as he finished his inspection, "Alright, either put him out or give him the pain killers."

"Nighty night Deidara-kun!" Sakura said as she reach her hand up and placed it on his temple, trickling her chakra into his brain and putting him under.

Deidara had looked frightened before the look of blissful sleep over took him. Sakura took off the medical tape and looked over the large wounds still on his body.

"We will have to wait till he gains weight to try to repair anything internally," Sakura said as she poked a bit at his skin and bones.

"Alright," Sasori said, "We will do that as soon as his health allows. Till then, you may want to leave for a bit. Circumcision is never pretty."

"Alright Sensei, I'll be in the kitchen, getting that tea that never came." Sakura said as she walked out, not even looking around.

"You do that," Sasori said as he pulled out a scalpel, making sure it was clean before he began the process.

* * *

The pain in between his legs was what woke him up. It hurt so bad. He whimpered a bit as he curled himself the best he could to try to stop the pain.

"Here," Something was brought to his lips, "Drink this. It'll help."

He did what he was told and drank as much as he could before he felt the pain turn into a dull ache. He was gently uncurled by someone and the blanket was pulled up to his chin again.

"Do you think you can eat?" Sakura's voice asked.

He hadn't opened his good eye, so he still did know where he was. But the smell coming from nearby was delicious.

"Come on," he heard her say as he felt heat radiating from something close to his mouth, "Eat it."

He opened his eye a sliver to look. It was beef stew, a rarity in Iwa and considered a delicacy there. He closed his eye again and opened his mouth wide enough for her to put the spoon in. She pulled it out and continued to hand feed him till there was none left.

"Wow," Sakura said as she petted his hair, much to his dislike, "You are a really good eater! Now I will come back later to give you some more medicine to relieve you of any pain, okay?"

"What did you do to me , yeah?"

"Sasori-sensei had to circumcise you," Sakura said as she patted his shoulder, "He explained to me it helps a male shinobi be faster at taking care of himself, there isn't much to clean down there after urinating now. He says most shinobi villages do it to all their newborns except Iwa. That's why he calls them barbaric."

"It hurts," Deidara whimpered, still feeling the ache even though it was dulled.

"Go back to sleep," Sakura said as she placed a hand at his temple, "You're in bad shape, just go back to sleep. Pein-sama won't request to see you till you're in good shape again. I'll be back with dinner later, okay?"

He barely had enough time to whimper a affirmative noise before he felt her chakra invade his body again and put him under. He was grateful. He couldn't stand the pain.

* * *

True to her word, she came back at dinner, fed him, and after a small healing session, put him back under till next meal.

She would feed him rich food, filled with nutrients and calories, and coax him into eating the whole plate. He usually didn't do such a thing, but Sakura wouldn't put him under till he did, so he reluctantly did as he was told.

She repeated the process for about three more days, then one morning she asked him while helping him with his breakfast how he was feeling and he was surprised to say he didn't hurt anymore. She seemed happy with that. That was the first time she didn't put him under.

So he laid awake, staring at the ceiling while the rosette was off most of the morning doing Kami knows what, not returning till lunch with some more food.

"If I wasn't underweight, I'd suspect you of trying to get me fat, yeah." Deidara said as he looked at the large meal.

"No," Sakura said with a shrug as she began to cut the food, "This is our usual rations. You're metabolism will be burning it off during your daily activities, but until then, yes, I guess it will fatten you up. Just humor me if it's too much for you to eat."

She offered him a bite, which he took and chewed a bit before addressing her again, "Why is someone like you in a place like this? You seem a little different then the others I've had the displeasure of meeting, yeah."

"Displeasure? All our members are nice-" She broke off when she remembered what Hidan was doing to the boy when she met him. She cut up another piece and offered it to him, "Okay, so Hidan doesn't make the greatest first impressions. He broke my nose when he slammed open the door the first day he was here, but everyone else here is nice, once you get past personality quirks."

"Yeah right, that Uchiha is really a nice guy," Deidara said as he rolled his good eye with sarcasm evident in his words.

"He is," Sakura said with a pout, "He's just extremely introverted. He can smile and poke fun, he just doesn't do it around others because he's shy."

"Shy?" Deidara asked with an arched brow, "He doesn't look shy, yeah. More like stuck up and thinks his Sharingan is the ultimate weapon."

"It's not!" Sakura yelled, pouting as she glared at the blonde, "he knows it has restrictions, but he doesn't mean to come off like that, he just does. How would_ you_ act if you had been the heir to the Uchiha clan! He just acts like he was taught to!"

"Why are you even defending that jerk, yeah?" Deidara yelled back, a scowl on his face, he didn't want to hear her sing the Uchiha's praise.

"Because he brought me here!" Sakura answered, her eyes glowing with anger, "I was orphaned and picked on when he found me. He went out of his way and brought me here with him. He took care of me when I was little and not use to the ways of a shinobi. He carried me on his back while we traveled _for eight months_ while we waited to be picked up by Akatsuki. He gave me his rations because we were starving, and he protected me when ANBU attacked. He could have left me alone and miserable, but instead he brought me here and gave me a home. That's not even the half of it, but _that's _why I defend him, because of what he did for me."

He blinked, he wasn't suspecting that. He just watched as she slowly reigned in her temper.

She rubbed her temples a bit before picking up the utensil and putting more food on it before offering it to him, "Eat it."

He decided not to push his luck. He ate everything quietly, watching her with his good eye as the fire in her eyes slowly simmered down to its normal glow. She wasn't angry anymore, he could tell by the way her movements flowed a bit better- she was an open book to him.

She sighed lightly as she set the utensil down, the food was now resting in Deidara's stomach. It made him feel slightly lethargic because he wasn't use to eating so much in one sitting. Sakura stood up and took the tray and set it down on her bed before coming back and sitting on his current bed, he eyed her with curiosity as she sat Indian style.

He realized this was the first time he had ever seen her in pants. But that thought was thrown to the back of his head when she began to undo his head dressing.

"What are you-"

"I'm checking up on your eye," Sakura said as she continued to unwrap his bandages from his head, "I need to see if it has healed. I need the wound to close up before I can go any further."

He felt sick when she finally pealed back the padding from his eye. He blinked a couple times, trying to adjust his eye to the light but-

Everything remained the same. He couldn't see out of it.

His fear must have been evident on his face because Sakura started to soothe him a bit, taking her hand and placing it on his jaw as she rubbed her calloused thumb pad over his cheek, next to his blind eye.

"Why can't I see anything?" He asked weakly as he tried to get eye contact with her.

"Because Hidan slashed it," Sakura said, not making any eye contact as she got up and shuffled about through her things before bringing back a mirror, "I will show you, but you have to promise not to throw up or throw a tantrum."

Deidara took a deep breath of air before nodding, closing his eyes a second before opening then to see his reflection.

He looked as pale as he felt, small cuts and bruises littered his face, but were starting to heal, the bruises were a sickly yellow. He couldn't understand how the girl looked at him everyday without getting disgusted by it. His hair was oily and dirty, and he could still see some clumps with blood in them. That was probably why he reeked.

He felt reluctant at first, but finally he looked at his left eye. It was clouded over with an ice blue color, a great contrast to his deep ocean blue eye color. He could see the iris was white, but what made him want to throw up or even throw a tantrum like Sakura had guessed he would want to do was the slash that ran across it horizontally. It was healing up still, but it was a pale blue, a bit deeper in color then the ice blue and was still healing a bit.

He knew he had said he wouldn't, but he felt the tears welling up and he could almost scream in anger. His eye! His eye was ruined and all because of some religious nutcase thought to use him as a sacrifice!

He blamed Itachi for this, he blamed the other two who had come with that weasel man, he blamed the leader of this organization, he blamed Hidan for being a religious nut job, but mostly he blamed himself. How could he have been so stupid! Why did he lower his guard enough to let that even happen! How?

Sakura seemed to sense the coming tantrum because she quickly took his face in her hands and kissed his eyelid that quickly covered his left eye on reflex.

"I said no temper tantrums." She warned as she pulled away, feeling his anger dwindle away in surprise, "All is not lost yet."

"It's not, yeah?" he asked quietly, still in a bit of a stupor from her little kiss.

"Of course not," Sakura said with a smile, "I am the Akatsuki's medic. I have to know how to fix the strangest of things. Aniki had eye problems as well, but I was able to fix it. Yours is just a little harder then his, but should be almost the same. I just need it to heal first before I can get to fixing it."

"Really?" He asked, chocking on tears of relief.

"Of course," Sakura said as she rubbed away the tears that began to well up under his eyes, "That's why I am here; to take care of all the members. That includes you, Deidara. But for now, it still needs a bit more time to fully heal."

And with that, she began to clean it up again, using a warm cloth to wash away the blood that had leaked from his eye, and carefully running it over the stitches he had on his head. He was surprised how careful she was when she began to administer the healing ointment on his wounds, smothering his new gauze pad with the healing salve before gently taping it over his eye and getting new dressings to wrap around his head and eye.

He used the mirror in his lap to watch her movements carefully. She eventually moved on to other areas, checking his other wounds, like his fingers, slowly un-taping them and checking them carefully before re-taping them. She even measured his waist, much to his embarrassment, tsking a bit at how underweight her was.

"Well, you gained about two inches, so at least your thickening out," Sakura said as she jotted down notes on a file, "But I need you to gain a lot more before I can do any internal repair."

That part was muttered to herself, but Deidara had heard her. He didn't know what she was talking about, but it made his stomach tie up in knots.

She finally got up and closed the file she had retrieved sometime during the exam and put it away before returning to him and tucking him in a bit.

"Is there anything I can get you?" She had asked him, "It will be a while before I can return, so I will get you something to keep you occupied till then."

"Something to sketch in, some pencils, and… er… a couple books, yeah?" Deidara managed to think of before turning to look at the pinkette.

"Alright," Sakura said as she nodded, grabbing the tray and heading for the door, "Let me go get you those things."

And before he could even blink, she was gone in a swirl of cherry blossoms.

He sighed as he closed his eye and leaned back on his pillow to relax a bit. Slowly, his hand touched his gauze, hovering over the spot where her lips had touched his thin skin that covered his eye. He didn't know why it had calmed him down. He didn't know why she would even do such a thing, but it didn't matter. She had done it and it had sent butterflies down his stomach.

He chuckled a bit to himself as he looked around the room, growing drowsy by just lying there. Perhaps this place wouldn't be as bad as he had originally thought. Sakura was interesting. He would see what this place had to offer before making his final judgment. He just hoped he wouldn't have to hang around Hidan or the Uchiha that much, but if hanging with Sakura became a habit, he might end up getting to know the two better then he wanted.

He closed his eyes slowly, listening to the calm white noise of the rhythmic beeping coming from the heart monitor. He couldn't help it. His stomach was full, he was safe, and the bed was comfy, he fell asleep before she even came back.

* * *

Well that is a wrap!

Reveiw. You know the happiness that blossoms in a person's soul when you click the little button at the bottom and tell them what you think. As long as they aren't flames, people should appreciate them! Criticism is expected, your comments are welcomed, and I would love to know what you think of my redefined version of Sakura is like. Heck any of the Akatsuki members. You know my usual questions and if you don't... well... what would you want in a review? Think about it.

Tell what you think about this Deidara in this story?

Thankies! -_bows_- Please take care of this story!

Ja Ne

Volleys-chan


	5. Chapter 5

Greetings.

Here is the next installment. Sorry it took so long. I have been busy. I will try to work on it during the holiday. Thanks.

Enjoy

* * *

_**Hummingbird**_

Chapter 5

_Ko-chan my Butt!_

* * *

**Disclaimer: Do not own Naruto. The idea about Deidara's heart and lungs- FluffyKeira**

* * *

Deidara groaned as he flipped onto his stomach, pushing the pillow over his head. Try as he might, the pink haired girl as still prodding her finger into his back, trying to agitate him.

"Get up Deidara," She said as she prodded his bare flesh.

His shirt must have ridden up, he realized as he felt her cold finger once again poke him. He groaned again as he moved an arm to swat at her.

"Go away," He mumbled from under the pillow weakly as he still swatted at the air.

He was warm and comfortable for once and his stomach wasn't angry at him for overeating. He just wanted to sleep in his bed and enjoy this feeling. However, Sakura didn't seem to think the same thing as him.

He grunted at the sudden cold air that nipped at his body, his blankets were gone and Sakura was poking at him again.

"Deidara, _get up_." She said again, sounding a little annoyed at his lack of enthusiasm of getting up.

Before he could even swat her away again and tell her to go away, his pillow was ripped out of his grip and the blinding light filtered in.

"Gah," he growled as he smashed his eye closed, trying to filter out the light.

"Up!" Sakura said again, right before lifting the mattress and him crashing onto the cold ground.

"I'm up!" Deidara yelled as he propped up his upper torso with his elbow, "What do you _want_, yeah?"

Sakura was glaring at him as she placed the mattress back down.

"Sasori-sensei wanted you up and moving today. So let's get you in the tub, scrubbed clean, and into some new clothes." Sakura said as she walked around the bed and grabbed his good arm, pulling him to his feet.

Deidara didn't seem to like this idea. He was tired and still wanted to sleep. Why did he have to be bossed around by a half pint who was shorter then he was?

"Hands off," he growled as he tried to pull away, "I can walk by myself, yeah."

Sakura released her hold and motioned for him to follow. She turned around and looked at him when she realized he was still standing where she had pulled him up.

"Are you coming?"

"Why should I listen to you, yeah? You can't boss me around."

Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed; well, was dumped out of the wrong side of the bed. Sakura internally sighed as she watching him be stubborn and not move at all. She needed him cleaned up and ready for the day because it was never a good idea to make Sasori wait. So in this small battle of the wills, it was important for hers to win out in the end. By sheer force if need be.

Deidara had never seen it coming. Sure, he noticed she was stronger then she looked when she had helped transfer him on to examination table, or being his support when she had to take him to the bathroom this last week, but he never thought she was _this_ strong!

She had picked him up around the waist and was _carrying_ him to his bath. She wasn't even struggling in the least, not like he was moving much either. The idea of being dropped so shortly after the rough impact with the floor a bit earlier had made him freeze in his position, grapping her shoulder in response and steadying himself through her.

"What the hell are you doing! Put me down, yeah!" Deidara managed to yell after she had already dragged him across the hallway and into a room.

"No! You're being too slow! I have a deadline I have to make and I _will_ make it!" Sakura yelled back as she managed to open another door that was connected to the room.

Inside was a bathroom with a tub already filled with steaming hot water. She didn't even bother to let him undress, Sakura just dropped him in the water. She quickly grabbed the shampoo and began to squirt it right when Deidara popped his head back up and sputtered indignantly.

"What are you doing," He thrashed a bit when he felt the cold semi-liquid touch his head.

"Helping you hurry up," Sakura replied before snapping the bottle shut and setting it aside. She began to lather up his hair as she continued to talk to him, "I am in a hurry. Sasori-sensei wanted you up and ready within the next hour or so. _I _refuse to be punished for you stubbornness."

"Stop it!" He cried as she pulled too hard on a tangle, "I'll do it myself, yeah!"

"In less then half an hour?" Sakura asked, pausing a bit to hear his answer.

"Yeah…" He said weakly.

She pulled away and washed the shampoo off her hands, "Use those towels, there will be clothes laid out on the bed outside for you, and if you take longer then thirty minutes, I will get someone in here to finish cleaning you and dressing you."

"Alright, alright! Just go already so I can finish _cleaning myself_, yeah," Deidara barked angrily as he began to scrub his hair himself, muttering darkly about pink haired kunoichis.

Sakura just smiled happily as she headed out the door and back into the hallway to go meet up with Sasori-sensei and Pein-sama, who were both waiting for her in the library.

"He's getting ready," She said with a smug look, "Though I am still excited to know who he'll be partnered up with. Are you going to switch teams around?"

Pein had a knowing look on his face as he just laughed lightly. Sasori also looked amused by her adorable antics.

"You're just going to have to wait and see, little one," Pein said calmly.

One thing was certain. She had developed Sasori's apparent distaste for waiting.

* * *

Deidara was actually pretty content that he was now clean, didn't reek of blood (that had been bothering him as of late), and was in clean clothes that fit him loosely, allowing him to gain back the proper amount of weight he needed. The only problem was that he had taken off his dressings. They had gotten wet and he didn't think they worked that well afterwards.

Someone knocked on the door before he felt them flair their chakra: Sakura.

"Come in," He said gruffly.

He knew she was coming in to probably redo his dressings. Darn it, he probably should have left his shirt off. She poked her head in first before bouncing gracefully in with a box of supplies in her arms. Did she always look like she was dancing? He hadn't paid her much attention.

"Hey! You're clean," she stated happily as she set the box on the bed and motioned him near, "Let me fix your dressings quickly before we go meet with Pein-sama and Sasori-sensei."

"Pein…sama?"

Sakura looked at him a little confused but realized it had been her mistake, "He's the leader of Akatsuki. If he hears you address him by his name he'll get angry. Just call him Leader-sama. Now come here."

He wasted no time sitting next to her on the bed, criss-cross. She copied him and sat on the opposite side of him, quickly checking his remaining wounds and dressing the only the ones that needed them still. He didn't have much except for his eye and his ribs, other then that he was healing well.

"Here," Sakura said as she motioned for him to turn around, "Let's make you look a little more presentable, after all you'll be assigned a partner today."

"A partner, yeah?" Deidara asked curiously, obeying her so she would continue to talk.

He felt a pull at his hair and realized that she was brushing his hair. He tensed up a bit before forcing himself to relax. He wasn't use to such displays of affection. He had been on his own for at least a year, no one had been there to make sure he even looked presentable. It was nice that someone cared again.

"Yes, all active members of Akatsuki have members- except Zetsu-san and Sasori-sensei. Though that may change." She said as she continued to unsnarl his hair as gentle as possible, "Itachi-nii is paired up with Kisame, Hidan-baka is paired up with Kakuzu-san, Sasori-sensei use to be paired up with Orochimaru-teme, Zetsu-san has always been partner-less, though he has a tendency of eating people, and Konan-san is Pein-sama's partner."

"What about you? You didn't mention yourself in that list, yeah." Deidara pointed out, glancing best he could at the girl who was brushing his hair behind him.

"I'm technically not an active member," Sakura said with a shrug, "I've never been on a mission higher then C ranked. I am usually here studying and training for when I am old enough to become an active member."

"Doesn't that bug you, yeah?" Deidara asked, a little shocked.

"It use to, but then Sasori-sensei told me if I had enough time to feel sorry for myself, then I must have too much free time. After that he piled more homework and classes. Never look bored or he will give you something else to do on top of what you were doing in the first place." Sakura said with a laugh.

Deidara decided for a ten year old, she wasn't so bad.

"So, how long have you been a member here?" Deidara asked, curious to how long she had been inactive.

"I came here with Aniki when I was eight, but I didn't become a member till I was nine. At the time, they weren't offering any new member rings, so I had to resort to stealing the ring of Orochimaru-teme before he ran off. It's surprising how easily one can get under a shinobi of his caliber defenses with just the right words."

"You _stole_ the ring of a Sannin?" Deidara asked incredulously.

Everyone knew who the legendary sannin were.

"I buttered him up with big words, used a genjutsu Itachi-nii had taught me, and replaced his ring with a pretty good replica. Then I turned tail, headed straight for Pein-sama and squealed on the pedophile. He was out the door before he could realize what was missing." Sakura said dismissively, "Anyone with the amount of planning I had could have done it."

"Not anyone," Deidara grumbled.

He could think of tons of people who couldn't do what this little girl had done. He felt the pull of the brush stop and glanced over his shoulder to see her looking puzzled.

"What?"

"It's still damp. That rules out a pony tail," She said as she looked at him, "I guess that means a braid!"

"Oh no!" Deidara said as he tried to get away from her, "I _refuse_ a braid! You can't make me wear a stupid braid, yeah! Especially if I have to get a partner today!"

…

…

"See, it looks nice," Sakura said as she poked him lightly as the two of them walked down the hall.

His hair was in a simple braid that rested on his right shoulder, his fringes covering the left side of his face.

"Shut up," Deidara snapped as he refused to make eye contact with the pinkette, "I only agreed to it because I wanted it up and out of the way, yeah."

"Alright! You look really nice though. It will make a good impression on everyone," Sakura said with a smile, "Hopefully you'll be able to remember all their names, they'll find it rude if you don't."

"But I haven't met them all, yeah!" Deidara whispered loudly, so not to be heard by everyone.

"You're a shinobi, just use what you know and use the process of elimination. I've told you all their names." Sakura said as she tilted her head a bit, "Don't you remember?"

Oh, that was right, she had told him all their names. It was in the conversation. Crap! He couldn't remember them all.

"Let's see, eh… There was Itachi, Sasori, Hidan, Leader-sama," Crap, those were the only ones he bothered to remember because he had met them or made a mental note about, "Kisame… er… Zetsu?"

Sakura sighed, "First off, don't address them like you are familiar with them. Address them like you would address anybody older then you. So you said that there is Itachi-san and he is paired with…"

"Kisame…san?" Deidara guessed, remembering the blue man walking around with the weasel.

Sakura smiled and nodded, "Correct! Now you said Sasori-sensei and he is paired with…"

She had said this twice.

"Nobody, yeah." Deidara said as it all flowed back to him, "Then there is Zetsu-san who also has no partner, Hidan… do I have to?"

Deidara looked at her with a hopeful look. Now way did he want to show respect to someone who had caused him to lie in a bed for two weeks while he slowly recovered.

"Nah, he would make fun of you if you did," Sakura said with a grin, "But who is he partnered with?"

"Ka…ku…zu…san?" Deidara said slowly, hoping his memory was right.

"Yep!" Sakura beamed as they slowly got to the doors, "Just one more pair!"

"Leader-sama and Konan-san, yeah. And then there is you, Sakura-chan," Deidara said with a teasing grin.

Sakura pouted when she heard him use her name so commonly, "Sakura-_san_."

"Nope," Deidara said as he began to poke her, "You are Sakura_-chan_. You're way too little to be Sakura-san."

Sakura glared as she stuck out her tongue, "Let's see if I help you ever again! You're lucky I wasn't Kakuzu-san or I'd charge you for every little bit of information I gave you!"

She was so easy to rile up, Deidara mused as he continued to play with her. She actually acted her age when she was angry and didn't act so disturbingly adult like. Not like when she was in 'medic mode' as he had deemed the really professional state she would be in when doing his check ups.

"Oh," Deidara said faking innocence, he really was having too much fun with her, "You want me to _pay_ you for all that information, yeah?"

"Normally, I trade!" Sakura pouted, with a child like look on her face that was befitting for her age.

"Alright," Deidara said as he stopped, they were almost at the door anyways, "I'll pay you."

And with that, he bent down swiftly and pecked her cheek. It had only taken a moment, but boy, the effects lasted longer then that. Deidara was use to pecks on the cheek and wasn't bashful or embarrassed to give them out at all. But then again, he had forgotten that some people weren't use to such frivolous affection.

Sakura went beat red for a minute, pausing were she was and spacing out and she touched the spot he had kissed. Never in all her life, nor during her time here _especially,_ had a male, other then her now deceased father, kissed her. She couldn't understand why he would just suddenly kiss her like that!

They weren't close! She had saved him, but that wasn't anything but a sense of duty to protect the members of this organization! She had tended to his needs while he was stuck in bed, but she never spent more then an hour or so with him each time, going right back to her studies. AND he had been grumpy this morning! He was a sour puss not even four minutes ago and out of no where he kisses her!!!

Sakura was shaken out of her thoughts be a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"You okay, yeah?" Deidara asked as he bent over to her height, "It was only a small kiss, yeah. Not even on the lips."

"Demo…" Sakura said as she shifted a bit, "Only my daddy and mommy had ever kissed _me_…"

Deidara looked surprised, "Not even your brothers and sisters?"

"I have none, expect Itachi-nii, but he isn't even related to me…" Sakura said as she shuffled a bit more.

"No one," Deidara clarified again, still a little shocked.

Sakura just shook her head no. Deidara looked a little sad for a moment before brightening up, kissing her other cheek just as quickly as he had the last.

"Well then, I will make sure to do that more often then, Sakura-chan," Deidara said as he stood up to his full height, a foot or so taller then she.

"Deidara!!!" Sakura fumed, only because he had called her Sakura-chan again, "Don't call me that!"

"Fine," Deidara said with a shrug, "then I will call you ko-chan, yeah."

"Noooo," Sakura whined as the two of them began heading to the door again, "Do _not_ call me a cute little child!"

"Too late," Deidara said before opening up the door and swiftly entering before she could complain about it more.

Sakura entered after him, bounding for the redhead and pulling herself into his lap, looking still flustered as she situated herself in his lap.

"What is this about," Sasori asked, looking down at the rosette.

"He keeps… doing stuff!" Sakura said as she crossed her arms unhappily.

"Humans are prone to do such things," Sasori said rather amused, "but pray tell, what was he doing?"

"He keeps calling me Sakura-chan and _ko-chan_ and…" Her face flushed a bit as she though about the second part.

"Kissing your cheek?" Deidara supplied for her, "It's not that big of a deal, yeah."

Pein and Sasori exchanged glances before looking at the blonde.

"You'll have to excuse Sakura, she is not use to such affections," Pein said as he began to speak to the blonde, "You are Deidara, correct?"

A quick glance at Sakura reminded him that this was probably the leader of the organization, as he spoke of Sakura as if he was in charge of her. The red head was, of course, Sasori. He was her sensei, which was probably when she went to him.

"Hai," Deidara said with a bow of his head, "And you are Leader-sama, correct, yeah?"

Pein nodded as he looked at the blonde. Deidara knew when to keep his attitude in check. He could feel the chakra oozing from the figure before him and the blonde could sense that it was just excess that was coming off of him. No need to anger someone who wouldn't blink twice about killing him.

"I apologize for not meeting you the day that you had arrived, I was in the middle of researching something when I was notified that Hidan had foolishly attacked you. My sincerest apologies for his rude behavior. Hidan is a-"

"Moronic baka who doesn't pay attention to the announcements given to _all_ the members," Sakura spat, "Not that he probably can _read_ the notes anyways."

"Yes," Pein said as he cast Sakura a glance, "What our little medic said."

Deidara observed that Pein was allowing when it came to Sakura. Then again, it was she who had been given the extra work since Hidan had not used his brains. Not only that, but he acknowledged her as their medic.

"I would like to formally welcome you into Akatsuki. I am known as Pein. You shall call me Leader-sama unless directed otherwise. Your Akatsuki coat has been delivered to your room. You're partner will direct you to your room when this meeting is over. Right now I wish to speak to you about your duties here in Akatsuki. Most of the rules and formalities your partner will inform you about. I expect you to fulfill your missions and return as soon as possible with your results. You are free to roam about and do what you will here in the base when you are not on a mission, your partner again will show you around. You and your partner will be important to each other. You will need to practice until you are in sync with your partner and able to read their movements to the highest degree possible. It shouldn't be hard really," Pein said as he eyes lightened up with some humor, "Your new partner matches you very well."

He paused for a moment before turning over to Sasori and Sakura. Sasori was currently lazily fixing Sakura's hair as she listened keenly to what Pein had said.

"Sasori," Pein addressed the red head.

He looked up from his work rather bored looking. Sakura smiled, thinking she had guess right, "You're partnering him up with Sasori-sensei, aren't you, Pein-sama?"

"Not quiet little one," Pein said as he shook his head, "What do you think Sasori?"

Both Deidara and Sakura looked a little confused. Both had obviously thought that since Sasori was the only other active member present that he would be the one Deidara was partnered with. Both exchanged confused glances before returning their attention to Sasori, who seemed to know what Pein was talking about.

"It is about time. It will be a pain to tutor both of them, but I do not want his skills lacking." Sasori said before petting Sakura's head a bit, "Plus, if he's giving her little pecks on the cheek, I'd say that they will do fine together."

Both blinked a couple times before Sakura found her voice, "You mean… Deidara's… _my_ partner?"

"Yes," Pein said with a nod, "He is. It took a while to find someone who would work well with your form, but from what Zetsu says, Deidara will compliment your abilities perfectly, once you two are in sync with each other. Sasori, what do you think about training the two of them?"

"He's a little wet behind the ears, but I'll see what I can do with him," Sasori said, ignoring the indignant 'hey' that had been yelled from the blonde of which he spoke of. "Sakura is in need of some form of competition, it might make her improve faster."

"Hey!" Sakura huffed as she crossed her arms, "I do fine on my own. All I want is to spar with someone who doesn't actually _cheat_!"

"We're shinobi dear, what do you expect? For us to let a little ten year old win?" Sasori asked rather amused by her little outbursts.

"Well," Pein said as he looked at Sakura, "That will be all. Take Deidara to Konan and receive his ring. After that, show him around an tell him when Sasori's classes begin."

"Hai, Pein-sama," Sakura said as she hopped off of Sasori's lap and marched over to Deidara and grabbed his wrist.

Her mood was still mixed. Excited that she finally had her own partner, and agitated that it was Deidara. He was bothersome! He kissed her on the cheek! She tried hard not to think of it as she began to drag the boy out.

"Come on, Konan-san isn't one you want to make wait."

"Hey, easy," Deidara yelped as she began to drag him backwards.

Once they were out of the room Pein looked over at Sasori and gave him a smirk, "Oh, you picked this one out well."

Sasori smirked as he looked at that door, "Of course. I have been on this earth longer then anyone could guess. I know talent in the rough when I see it. His siblings were a bit more skilled and experienced, but he…" Sasori smirked even wider, "He has more raw talent then any of them. I now just have to mold him into something worth while."

"So you take on yet another student," Pein said as he looked over the scroll Sakura had fetched for him not two weeks beforehand, "But the question is, will the others teach him as well?"

Sasori chuckled, "Only time will tell, Pein, only time will tell."

Pein chuckled as well before his mood turned somber, "What about the heart problem? You told me his heart is too small and his lungs are very delicate. That was not what you had told me when you first saw him."

"It can be fixed," Sasori said as he stared at his hand, flexing the wooden fingers, "with a little time. It might be hard to convince him to let us help. From what I uncovered, Deidara is one of the few that has the extra mouth. They are usually revered, so it may be hard to convince him otherwise. It will take time to make him see that it only weakens him, and to prove it I will push him over his limits. He won't be able to keep it up forever, and when he caves, Sakura and I will fixed the problem. Simple as that."

"I hope for his sake you are right," Pein said as he sighed, "Otherwise, he very well might not make it long here. So I hope you are right."

"I am rarely wrong."

* * *

Okay!!! That is all for now!

Yes, Deidara is going to be very different then the normal canon version of Deidara. He will actually be more powerful in the end result, but for now, he is still learning.

I figured that you guys will want a background, and I will supply you with that. Right now school life is going a little too fast to find time to write, so I will get to working on the other vast amounts of stories I have written. But I will not promise anything.

Don't forget, I love answering questions you have for me, but I will try not to ruin the plot.

Hope you like it. Tell me what you think about it in a review!

Ja Ne

Volleys-chan


	6. Chapter 6

Greetings.

Okay!!! Here is the twist! Thank you sooo much for all your reviews. I am sooo happy to receive them!

So anyways, this is the new chapter and I hope you can enjoy it.

Enjoy

* * *

_**Hummingbird**_

Chapter 6

_Revered Child Aliment_

* * *

**Disclaimer: Do not own Naruto**

* * *

Sakura looked back at Deidara with a curious glance. He was slowly falling behind her in the small one mile jog.

She had shown him around yesterday, showing him his room, which had been the room he dressed and bathed in, and helped him get his jacket and ring. Much to her amusement, his was the same color as hers. Apparently, they found it amusing that he was her partner and decided to make them set apart.

Deidara didn't seem to get it. But boy was he horrified when he discovered that Konan-san expected him to wear the white nail polish as well. Sakura had to feel bad at the boy's wounded pride when Konan-san easily held him down and applied the nail polish. To her surprise, he didn't struggle all that much, but he would try to pull his hand away when he could.

"Don't say no to Konan-san," Sakura had told him as she patted his back.

He as sitting on the ground with his knees up to his face, moping as he played with his fingernails a bit.

"Don't chip your nails, or you'll have to get them done again," Sakura also told him before managing to get him going again to the next thing on their list to do.

She had gone over all the rules, formalities, and showed him the different rooms, including the greenhouses and training grounds.

After that, it was lunch time, since they had missed breakfast during his initial welcoming. Deidara was able to meet all the other members for the first time. He was wise enough to give them the proper respect they needed, but Sakura could tell he was as frightened as she was at her first meal.

She had afterwards pulled him along to the library and began to study quietly. Deidara had fallen asleep waiting for her in the chair right next to hers. She found him strange, but in a way, she liked how comfortable she felt with him.

Soon dinner had come and gone, Deidara did better the second time, and before Sakura said goodnight to him, she reminded him about Sasori's class that would occur a little bit after breakfast.

That was what they were doing now. Sasori was giving them a light warm up that was usually followed up with a light spar, but Deidara already looked like he was dwindling fast and his breathing was looking uneven too. He was already coated in sweat and his eyes looked rather despondent.

"You alright Deidara?" Sakura called out from her location a good sixty feet ahead of him, slowing down to check on him.

Deidara gasped out for air. He wasn't alright. He wasn't able to get enough air, but he refused to let her see that. To see that he was so weak that he couldn't even outrun a ten year old girl. His lungs were burning and his heart was pumping as fast as it could. He could feel his head spin with the lack of air, but still he didn't want to her to look down on him. He was _not_ a weakling. He barely managed to nod at her before he blacked out.

* * *

"Deidara?"

The voice was barely there, but he had heard it. He felt something tap his face several times before he heard his name again, this time a little louder and clearer.

"Deidara?"

He realized that something was pressed against his face, he didn't like it. After a couple more seconds, he recognized that someone was holding his head up a bit. He made a face of pain and discomfort as he slowly came to.

"Deidara?" This time he could recognize the voice as Sakura's.

"Hn," he managed to grunt out, trying to pull his head away.

It was no use, she had an iron grip on him.

"Deidara," Sakura sounded relieved, "Stay still."

Deidara finally creaked his eye open to see Sakura and Sasori staring down at him. Sakura was the one pressing something against his face and holding up his head slightly so he could breath better. Sasori was standing in the background, staring at him with indifference.

"Wha?" his voice sounded muffled to him as he slowly become more coherent.

"Take deep breaths, okay?" Sakura ordered.

It made sense now. She had an oxygen mask on his face. He could feel the pure air against his mouth and nose. He did as she instructed and found it hard not to cough and gasp for the air. He shouldn't have pushed himself. He _knew_ better then that, last time it had almost killed him if it had not been for some kind old medic woman who helped resuscitate him.

Once Sakura knew he was alright, her worried expression became angry, "Why didn't you say anything! You should have told us if you're lungs were too weak to perform strenuous activities! Deidara! It could have killed you!"

"I know, I know, yeah," Deidara said, trying to pull his head away from the oxygen mask, only half way succeeding, "I shouldn't have tried it… I just…"

Sakura could feel his shame rolling off of him. He just didn't want to be considered weak. She understood him all too well. She too hated being considered the weak link. Sakura sighed as her anger melted away. She repositioned his head back to the way she had it before, pressing the oxygen mask against his face again.

"It's alright, we know better now. Now stay still and take deep breaths." Sakura said before addressing Sasori, "Sasori-sensei, could you please help bring Deidara to his bed? I am much too small."

The redhead nodded as he swept Deidara up, Sakura standing and holding the oxygen mask to his face while she walked to Sasori's pace with the oxygen tank in her other hand. Deidara closed his eye and concentrated on breathing until his lungs no longer felt on fire.

He didn't even realized they were in his room until he was gently placed on the bed.

"Do you think you can breathe on your own?" Sakura asked, looking at him for an answer.

"Yes," He breathed out, "I think so, yeah."

"Alright," Sakura said warily as she pulled away the mask, "How does that feel? Is it a strain?"

"No," Deidara said as he shook his head, "It's fine now."

And to prove his point like he had done so many times before hand, he took a deep breath and breathed out slowly.

Sakura nodded. She looked at him with saddened eyes before turning to Sasori, "Sensei, I don't think Deidara should get up for the rest of today, it there something that he can practice by himself without getting up?"

Sasori nodded before leaving the room. He wasn't usually one for a lot of words, and times like these, he stayed silent and spoke very little. Once he was gone, Sakura turned to address Deidara.

"You seem too familiar with this problem. Deidara, how long have you had this?"

Deidara didn't look at her, he didn't want to let her into his past. That would only make things worse. It would make him even more dependant- _weak_- if he told her everything about him. She would pity him and he would hate himself even more.

Sakura seemed to get the hint. She backed off the subject immediately.

"It seems you're not ready to tell me, so I will just go now okay? Sasori-sensei will bring you your assignment and you just work on it in bed. Don't get up for more then just using the bathroom. I'll have someone bring your meals to you."

With that said, she disappeared through the doorway, not coming back. Deidara just lied there staring at the ceiling, looking for random images in the spackle. Sasori returned some time later with a bunch of books, puzzles that needed to be solved, and several chakra games.

He weakly thanked him before getting to work.

"Advice for you boy," Sasori said right before leaving the room, "Don't underestimate our Sakura-chan. She has overcome her own barriers. And don't go underestimating yourself. I didn't pick you because of your abilities or power; you barely have the ability of a genin. No, I picked you because of potential. Now get to work, those must be done by the end of the day."

Deidara stared at the door for a while before beginning to work on the assignment. He did the reading first, playing with some clay as he did so to keep his mind from wondering. By the time he was done, someone was knocking at his door.

From the chakra flare, he could tell it was _Itachi_.

"Come in," He grumbled as he grabbed a puzzle and began to work at it, trying hard to ignore him.

Itachi came in slowly, closing the door behind him and calmly placed to tray on the boy's lap, seizing the puzzle out of his grasps.

"Hey! I was working on that, yeah," Deidara shouted as he glared at the older teen.

"What happened? Sakura has locked herself in her room." Itachi said while looking harshly at the blue eyed teen with his onyx colored eyes.

That took Deidara by surprise, "She locked herself in her room?"

Itachi nodded as he cast a glance at the shut door, right across the way was where Sakura's room was.

"Yes. The last time that happened was with me," Itachi said, glancing back at the blonde, "So what is so wrong with you that would cause my imouto to lock herself in her room again?"

"I don't know," Deidara said with a confused look, "I didn't say anything to her to make her mad-"

"She's not mad," Itachi corrected, "If she was mad at you, she wouldn't be locked in her room. You'd be on the floor, lights out, after being punched by her."

"I don't get it then."

Itachi repressed a sigh, the boy didn't know Sakura all that well yet, he would have to enlighten him on her character by letting Deidara know more then he wanted to tell. But it couldn't be helped.

"The last time she locked herself in her room was when she diagnosis me with a terminal lung disease." Itachi said, watching as the boy suddenly stilled.

"You what?"

Itachi really did sigh this time, "Not even a year ago, she diagnosis me with a lung disease. I had known about it for a while, but hadn't told anyone. She was angry at first, but when I thought she had locked herself in her room in anger, turned out to be her trying to find a cure. She couldn't do it alone, so one day she finally unlocked the door and got help from Sasori, Kakuzu, and Zetsu. They made a cure for me."

"So… she locked herself in her room… for… me?"

Itachi looked at him with understanding eyes, "Yes. She did it to try to help you, but first, you will have to let her help. It's not easy. It is actually hard to lower yourself to ask for help from a little pink haired child, but… Is it not the lasting results of getting her help that will be your reward?"

And with that, Itachi handed him back the puzzle and left the room without another word, leaving Deidara to his lunch and to his thoughts.

* * *

Sakura sighed, rubbing the sweat away from her forehead. The rat's heart was enlarged. Her theory on making an organ larger worked wonderfully. She poked the large heart, blinking when it erupted. She wiped the blood off of her face, glad she had her apron on so the blood didn't get on her dress.

Okay… let's hope that didn't happen to a larger animal…

And hope that Deidara never found out.

Sakura ignored the knocking at her door. Didn't they know she wasn't going to answer? She had to figure this out!

"Ko-chan, open up, yeah," Deidara's voice called from the other side.

That got her attention. He shouldn't be up; after an attack like that, standing would make his head spin and give him fainting spells. She dashed to the door, undid the locks and immediately grabbed his wrist and pulled him to her bed to rest on.

"Didn't I tell you only to get up to use the restroom?" She asked, upset at his obvious appearance.

He looked at her with a nauseas look. "Yeah… But…"

"But what? What could possible make you get up when you know you shouldn't?"

"Did you lock yourself in here because of me?" Deidara asked quietly, not sure if he wanted an answer.

Sakura blinked a couple times before she could rule in her surprised expression.

"It's not because I'm angry at you, if that's what you're thinking," Sakura said as she quickly went back over to the dead rat and covered up the mess with her apron, "I just needed to be alone to tests my theories."

"What kind of theories?" He asked, he no longer looked like he was going to puke or pass out.

Actually he looked guilty. Like this was out of her way, but it wasn't. She would do this for all the members if she had too. It was her job, her responsibility. She lived for testing theories and fixing problems!

And one of those theories involved Sasori knowing Deidara had a problem long before they had even picked him to he her partner. She was even willing to bet Kakuzu and Kisame on it.

"Er…" Sakura started looking at the apron that covered the dead rat with the exploded heart, "How to enlarge hearts… and stuff."

_Please don't ask how it is progressing…_

"So… how well is that going for you, yeah?" He asked so quietly that she almost didn't hear him.

"It could be going better," Sakura finally sighed, looking at him wearily, "It would help to get a second look at your anatomy though."

She was hoping, praying almost, that he would let her. That he wouldn't get indignant or defensive about his special kekkei genkai. People with bloodline traits tended to be overprotective of them as they were raised to be. It was almost a wonder that the members of Akatsuki even trusted her to look at their obvious bloodline traits.

Deidara squirmed a bit, obviously battling with himself before he nodded, whispering weakly, "Okay…"

"Really?" Sakura asked, amazed at his change of heart.

He paled a bit as he nodded again, "I trust you, yeah. You already have seen it so I guess it doesn't matter much, does it?"

"Alright then," Sakura smiled, "Take off your shirt and lie flat on your back."

Deidara's eye widened with shock, "You want to do it _now_?"

"You're not going anywhere anytime soon," Sakura shrugged as she grabbed a few things she might need, "Sasori-sensei and the others still think my door is locked, so they won't be down here till it's time to feed you- if they remember."

Deidara was about to say no, but Itachi's words rang in the back of his head. He would have to let her help him. That meant doing what she said, and telling her what she needed. He let out a deep sigh, moving further onto her bed before pulling off the shirt and lying on his back.

"Like this?" He asked, watching as she set the things on the bed and easily crawled up the side.

"Yeah," Sakura said before getting a little closer, "Now close you eyes and try to relax a bit. This shouldn't hurt, but if it gets uncomfortable, just tell me. I will be asking you questions throughout the whole process, so stay awake, okay?"

"Okay," Deidara said as he shut his eye.

He trusted her. His life had been in her hands before and she had already saved him. He forced himself to be at ease as he felt her chakra infiltrate his body. It was warm and gentle, not like he had imagined. It was comforting.

"Now, how long has this been a problem?" She asked quietly, it was very calming the way she spoke.

"Since the day I was born," Deidara replied, trying to ignore her as she went to work. "In my family, there are a few of us who are born like myself with a fourth mouth. In the past, when Iwa was still in need of us, children like myself were considered revered. Most of the time, they were boys- no- all of them were male, it is passed down through males, yeah. They were frail of health and so could not be a ninja, but at the same time, it mean the Kekkei Genkai was strong in their blood if another mouth had appeared. They would usually grow up to have a harem of women to further increase our clans numbers, yeah."

Sakura listened intently as she finished checking his body with her chakra. His lungs were worse then she first thought. They were extremely thin and collapsed easily. It looked like he had the left on inflated on several occasions. His fourth mouth took up so much room that there was no rib cage in that area. It was the teeth that protected it from collapsing on itself. His heart was small and fluttered fast, almost like a hummingbird's heart. It was working too hard and it already looked as if it had failed him numerous occasions. Had he not been 'revered' he might have died a long time ago.

"Tell me about different occasions where you've had attacks, the bad ones. You're heart looks pretty bad, how many times have you been revived?"

"Thirty-three minor heart attacks, fifty-six- no fifty-seven now- breathing attacks, and about twenty-two times that my left lung completely collapsed, yeah," Deidara said without even having to think about it, "My mother was a medic. She was always watching over me so there are no side effects to the heart attacks. She was always right there when I started to get one, yeah."

Sakura paused as she looked at Deidara. He had grown accustom to this. He knew he was frail, yet he still hadn't given up on being a shinobi. She knew he was one. He had the forehead protector and was able to summon his chakra.

"Deidara, you knew it could kill you, why did you become a ninja? How did you become a nukenin?"

Deidara laughed lightly as he opened his one good eye, "Despite what my mother wanted, I have always had a love for my family's ability. I wanted to prove to my mother that I was able to become a ninja and didn't have to be treated like a little child all my life. I might be older then you, but I bet… If you put me with kids my age, I'd be lost at what to do, yeah."

He paused a bit as he stared off for a second before continuing, "My clan had become unwanted by a lot of people, so most of us were killed off, except my intermediate family. My father is Meishou Haitaka, the greatest recon ninja there is and my oldest brother Meishou Haitaka Jr. is the greatest assassin Iwa has. My family also has my mother, Aya, who comes from a clan from a different village who are know as Archangels. To touch my family would be a sin, yeah."

"So… why did you leave?" Sakura asked, opening up his fourth mouth and beginning to do a slow inspection of it.

"I hated being the weak child. My other siblings were all either much older than me, or much younger. The twins were your age, and my closest older sibling, who is one of my sisters, was at least seventeen. My brother who would have been fifteen this year had died when I was still too young to remember, yeah. So I begged to be a ninja. I begged until my father began to teach me, and then I worked hard so I could at least pass the genin exam. I did, yeah. And I was so happy, but still, even after that, I could not get them to see me as more then just their poor frail little child. My six year old sister could out run me, yeah. So I left. I wanted to prove that they were wrong. I wanted freedom, yeah. I didn't want to be like a caged bird, I wanted to be free. So I used my jutsu and left. I have been on my own for a good ten months, yeah. I had one attack the whole time and was saved by a medic who had pity on a poor little child."

Sakura closed her eyes for a second. That was a lot. No wonder he didn't want to share. That must have been hard not to be acknowledged by your own family. She had been and it was what hurt when they died, but Deidara… His pain was knowing that his parents were still alive and still thought little of him. Perhaps they loved him greatly, that didn't matter, they weren't willing to take more of a chance to believe he was strong enough to live the life of a shinobi.

"I will have to remove this," Sakura said as she pointed at the mouth, "It takes up too much space. That means that if I can enlarge the heart; make your lungs thicker, though they will always be delicate; and help your body develop the missing section of your ribcage, you could be able to keep up with even Itachi- if you trained hard enough."

"Good," Deidara said with a dark, sorrowful smile on his face, "Rip it out then, it has been nothing but a unwanted burden, yeah."

His eyes were closed but she could feel hope radiate within him. Hope that he could indeed become strong. Hope that maybe one day he could be something his parents never thought he could be. And hope that he could make it through another day without worrying if his heart would finally give out or his lungs collapse fully. Things that normal 13 year olds should have to worry about.

"I will," Sakura promised, "But things like this take time, I need to study and practice a bit more before we could even begin such an operation. So for now, you're done. Stay in bed for the rest of the day and tomorrow study in the library. If you get lost, _politely_ ask someone where the book would be. Wait till they acknowledge you standing there waiting to talk to them before addressing them. It helps."

"Alright," Deidara said with a yawn, he was getting really sleepy, "Can I stay in here until I can get back to my own bed, yeah?"

"Promise not to watch me practice?" Sakura threw back at him.

"Sure…?" Deidara said warily as he opened his eye to give her a uncertain look.

"Then sure, rest in here. Do you need your studies?" Sakura asked as she hopped off the bed, taking the objects she had brought with her to clean and sterilize.

"Finished them before I came to talk to you," Deidara yawned again.

Her bed was comfy.

Sakura was about to ask him how he had finished so fast- it only being two and it usually took her a whole week to get all of it done- to find the blond asleep already. Sasori had told him to finish by tonight, but that wasn't suppose to be _possible_. Those puzzles even took Itachi an hour or so to finish.

Sasori really had picked well. This boy definitely made up in wits and what he lacked physically.

What would he be like when he could actually run and not have his heart fail or lungs practically collapse on him?

He was the other half of her soul- even more so than Itachi…

She could probably read him just as well as he could read her. Her expressions weren't that easy to recognize when she was defensive, but around him- all those defenses collapsed. She could see that in him as well.

And that was why they had been made partners.

* * *

"Already?" Silver eyes darted over to the crimson eyes of his companion.

"Yes," the puppet nodded, "He seems to have been already sick of being frail. He only needed a small push in the right direction and Itachi seemed to serve that purpose well."

"I see. Well then, I believe this will be helpful to Sakura."

A scroll was shoved over to Sasori, who took it without question, "How did he do on his assignments?"

"He finished them all within six hours. He was tested on the reading and he got about 92 out of 100 correct, the ones he missed were not very well mentioned, vague. He finished the puzzles with ease. His mind seems to work well with that sort of thing. The chakra exercise showed that he is almost as gifted as Sakura is. With a bit more training he could be just as good as she is."

"Interesting. Since you can't do much with him physically, work him into the ground mentally. Start working on finding out what he already knows, then see if he would be capable of learning medical jutsus. It would always be good to have two medics so one can heal the other if the other falls ill. And when Sakura begins to repair his lungs, I want you to hand him over to Konan for about an hour and a half to learn how to sing."

"Sing?"

"It will help him learn how to breath properly. I know is sounds unethical, but I think that Deidara will take to it well. Then introduce him to the counterpart taijutsu to Sakura's. They go in hand in hand and it works well if he is really the son of an Archangel. They are said to be highly flexible and fluid."

"I see. I will try, but I make no promises. Itachi was the one who taught Sakura, so I don't know the form. Perhaps he can teach him. That is, if the boy lets him."

Laughing could be heard for moment. Pure, loud laughter that echoed through the room.

"Well," the silver eyes came further into the light to reveal not a carrot head, but a redhead. "Let's see what Sakura can change."

* * *

Well that is a wrap!

Reveiw. You know the happiness that blossoms in a person's soul when you click the little button at the bottom and tell them what you think. As long as they aren't flames, people should appreciate them! Criticism is expected, your comments are welcomed, and I would love to know what you think of my redefined version of Sakura is like. Heck any of the Akatsuki members. You know my usual questions and if you don't... well... what would you want in a review? Think about it.

Tell what you think about this Deidara in this story? Sakura and Deidara together? How is the story developing in your tastes?

P.S. All of you are asking about ages for Sakura and Deidara so here:

Sakura-10

Deidara-13

Itachi-15

I mentioned all their ages in the stories, but, well, just incase you couldn't remember.

Thankies! -_bows_- Please take care of this story!

Ja Ne

Volleys-chan


	7. Chapter 7

Greetings.

Yeah, I have been gone... I know, you are mad and all.... but if it is any constellation, I haven't forgotten my stories! I just need to think up endings. I personal hate endings because that means it is over and so it is really sad for me to write one. But I really want to try for this one and Kure-tori. I have had this one for a while, but I just couldn't post it. Not yet, but now I am good and I think I know what direction I want this to go eventually.

So anyways, this is the new chapter and I hope you can enjoy it.

Enjoy

* * *

_**Hummingbird**_

Chapter 7

_Destiny Bites, So Bite Destiny Back_

* * *

**Disclaimer: Do not own Naruto**

* * *

Life had always been unfair to him. He was born at the wrong time with the wrong personality and with the wrong hopes and dreams. He knew he had been. He _should_ have been born when his people were at their peak. When he would have been totally been considered revered and been taken care of by the whole village. He _should_ have had a complacent or lax personality that made him complacent in his role in life. He _should_ have never even once thought about being a ninja.

But, he was all of those things he shouldn't of been. He _was_ born when there was strife between the remaining clan members and Iwa. He _was_ born with a restlessness spirit and stubborn heart. He wasn't able to be complacent at all with how he was. He stubborn and smart and he _knew_ he was skilled with chakra. His temper was short because of how he was treated back home. He _wanted_ to be a shinobi! He wanted adventure and missions! He wanted to be able to play like the other children and not have to worry about things.

But those things had always been withheld from him.

His mother treating him like a delicate child who didn't know any better. She would take care of him like he was just a toddler, never venturing too far without him, and always making sure he had a nurse at his side when she was gone. The times he did suffer from his poor health was when he tried to prove he could be more then what she thought of him.

His father, Haitaka, seemed to understand him. He would come in at night and tell him all sorts of stories about being a ninja, telling him about things like chakra and his recon missions. Deidara loved hearing about them. He would wait up for his dad just to tell him one of his same old stories just because he could.

That was what had sparked his general dream of becoming a shinobi. When he had reached the age of seven, he had started picking up books as a way to entertain himself. His brothers and sisters were all off with their own lives and had no time for _'Mommy's Little Angel'_.

He didn't like that they call him that. He wasn't an angel. If he was he would be powerful! Not a cripple.

So he usually spent his days studying, reading about chakra, strategies, and history books. His mother had a vast collection from her days as a shinobi. When those were no longer enough, he began to play games. Shogi, Go, Chess, puzzle games to sharpen his mind. He figured that if he had a sharp mind, he could still become a shinobi of some sorts.

He always, _always_ practiced art. That was what he was doing if his mother took away the books and the games, molding the clay he had and making animal figures with them. He gradually moved up to sculpting humans and his father even taught him how to sketch. He said having a controlled hand and being able to get images down on paper correctly helped being in his field of shinobi. Deidara was better at sculpting then even his eldest brother, and his sketching was coming along well too.

He even talked his mother into showing him how to summon his chakra. He had initially told her that it was so if he was having an attack, he could start healing himself incase she wasn't near. She began to teach him, but stopped when she discovered that was not his intention at all. Though by then, it had been too late. He knew enough to study and train by himself.

His mother was great at picking up those sort of things. She had, after all been a kunoichi of high caliber before she married his father. He was a little upset to find she had thrown away her status as a great kunoichi to have children. Though, she always seemed to be having more.

He had five older siblings. Five. Who were still alive. Not to mention the twins who were younger then him and the triplets. His mother loved children. All of them extremely affectionate and giving kisses here and there. Aya, his mother, loved having a baby to care for and nurse, so that was probably why she loved him the best. Because he would always need her to care for him.

When he had turned eleven. He secretly applied for the shinobi test. The only other person who knew was his eldest brother, Haitaka Jr. (though everyone just called him Taka). He had forged his father's name for Deidara and told him that he believed in him. His brother was always kind to him when the others weren't looking. But when they were, he chose to ignore Deidara for the sake of the others not picking on the boy more then they already did. For that, he was always grateful.

He took the test, failing completely at the physical demands of being a ninja, but completely passing the written test, the strategy test, the chakra control, and even defeated his 'foe' with a series of exploding tags.

He passed, not the rookie of the year, no, he didn't have the physical strength to do that, but he passed nonetheless.

That had not gone over well with his mother. She had become livid with him. He could understand were she was coming from, but he was eleven now and he couldn't just stay in the house all day with her, either studying or resting in his bed. He didn't want that! He wanted to go outside and play and at least be a ninja!

His mother talked to the Tsuchikage, convincing him that if he wasn't going to retire Deidara, to at least put him on medical leave until he was at least sixteen. By then, he would be bedridden, he knew that. She was worried. Yes, but it was unnecessary to be this worried!

He had tried to speak to his father about it, but he said 'no'. He had asked Taka about it. He had told him he had expected him to fail and stop with the silly dreams. He told him that he, Deidara, just didn't have what it took to be a ninja.

It shattered his heart.

He gave up. He lied in bed and did as he was told for a while. His mother even had another more experienced medic to look at him. It didn't surprise him when the doctor told his mother that he basically had a severe case of depression. He _knew_ that! But it only made things worse.

He refused to eat sometimes, making his mother worry even more. He would just stare out the window while she begged him to eat and watched everyone else live their lives. He would never be able to live like them and it made him even more saddened.

He knew his mother would have had him on anti-depressant medicine if it wouldn't have killed him. But eventually, she started figuring out other ways to try to help him. Force-feeding had come first. He didn't enjoy it, so he began to eat on his own again, but very small amounts. Playing up his favorite dishes came next. She would make his favorites, knowing it would be hard for him to resist. It worked for a while, but it didn't last. He knew she laced his food with potent herbs that were suppose to be good for the body, so he usually picked at the food, discovering which foods she would lace it with and avoid it.

His mother got very desperate. To the point that she began to bargain with him. She promised him so many things, that if he began to eat, she would take him to the ocean, that on summer days they would lie in the garden under the tree and soak up some sun, and even that she would let his father take him flying.

That was what had sparked him. He remembered that even though his father was fast, he usually used his birds to _fly_ long distances. He was twelve by then and had decide what he was going to do then.

He began to eat again. Making sure he regained his health. He began to play with his clay and make sure that his fingers were still nimble- practicing birds more then ever. He mastered his chakra control as best as he could and worked on sharpening his mind again. He would need it as sharp as he could get it to think up strategies to avoid being found once his plan was in action.

His mother and father had taken it as a good sign. They thought that he would be content. He was never content. He was insatiable for things he could not have. He wanted to _defy_ the fate that had been set for him.

And so he did. One night when his father was on a long-term mission, as well as most of his older siblings that were cunning enough to catch him, he made a bird.

He had things he wanted to take with him ready and had even stolen a extra blanket saying it was cold that night and he wanted another one, and with a silent 'poof' the small bird became a large enough vessel to travel on.

It saddened him a bit later that he had no remorse, he didn't look back, or that he even missed his home. Freedom had called and he had grabbed onto it as best he could. He would die before he was forced back into that infernal bed in that infernal room so he could be babied by a mother who worried too much about him.

He kept his head forward and flew southeast, into another land so his father could not go after him. He knew he was still registered as a Iwa nin. If people discovered he was gone, he would be considered a missing nin. He took his kunai out and slashed his headband before putting both away.

He did not want to be a ninja of a place that couldn't recognize talent. He would not be a ninja of a place who didn't believe he could be great. So his life had truly began.

He had traveled, being careful of his frailty and keeping to warmer climates. He sometimes went without food, but he was use it by then. He traveled about and had seen the world outside his house for the first time! To his horror, he found himself feeling very naïve. Not stupid, but after being tricked out of a meal once or twice, he tended to be more skeptical of what people said.

He had traveled for ten months. Dodging hunter ninjas only few times, but well enough that they didn't even realize he trail went cold until they were too late. He was a crafty one. Along his travels he had discovered that he could make his clay scupltures explode! And thus opened up another chapter of his life. He become a terrorist for hire only a month before Itachi, Kisame, and –later he found this out- Sasori approached him.

He had tried to act tough, but at the end had been outwitted, out crafted, and his philosophies on art had been trampled. He had come to appreciate his talent at art and was almost obsessed with it now since it was what had kept him alive this long.

He had come back with them, using his bird to travel, and had been left to his own devices when the members either went back to their rooms, or were called right back out to do a mission.

He was rather against asking _Itachi_ where to go, so he tried to spend his first night in the living room. He didn't expect the Jashinist- who he found out later from Sakura was all about- to take him and try to _sacrifice him_.

It was the worst pain he had ever felt! He was surprised when his heart didn't give out or even increase beating. He screamed and his lungs didn't give out for once. It was only after Sakura had saved him and he was asking her a series of questions about why he was attacked, after he was allowed to be awake, did he find out that it was because of Hidan.

The ritual tied him to Hidan's body temporarily, making it so only _Hidan_ could kill him at the end of the ritual. As long as he was in the circle of his blood, the ritual would be in process. But if he was moved out of the circle, the ritual would end without having to be ended with death.

It was only now that things were changing for him greatly. Ever since coming here, though he was still a _little_ mad at Itachi's way of handling it, things were looking up. He had people believe in him and actually thought him worth something. Okay, so it really was only Leader-sama, Konan-san, sometimes Sasori-san, and Sakura-chan that thought that, but it was more then he had ever had before.

Sakura even believed she could heal him. He was excited at the prospect! Oh how he only _dreamed_ of being strong! All he had to do was wait a bit longer. It wasn't hard. He was patient when he had to be and he would be patient as long as he got the outcome he wanted.

So he waited. He kept up his studies as Sakura worked on her theories, and he spent most of his days studying in the library. Sasori was teaching him again, but this time it was less physical. But he never stopped working him down mentally. Sometimes during classes Deidara thought his brain would explode- though he did manage to end a couple classes with huge arguments over art (that was an explosion of sorts). Sasori would eventually end it saying something among the lines of 'you're wasting my time'. But other then those times about artistic differences he was an amazing teacher. He was teaching him about poisons and antidotes and he was _loving_ it. He began to study botany as well.

He even become curious about animals, thinking that if he studied them better, he could better his art. Sasori took advantage of that as well and began to teach him human anatomy. He threw up at first- when Sasori showed him his first _real_ dead body- but after a week or so, he didn't empty his stomach anymore.

Actually, he found it interesting.

Seals were another thing that he had become interested in. Iwa was terrible at seals, so there was no material to study from. He had come to find out that Leader-sama was a seal fanatic. Deidara had listened to Sakura's advice about Leader and waited to be acknowledged. It took an hour or so of standing there before Leader even glanced his way.

"What do you want?" He had asked as he looked up from his reading.

"Eh…" Deidara couldn't help but feel intimidated, but remembered his mother's rules about politeness. He bowed in one fluid motion and looked at Leader after the gesture, "You like seals, yeah?"

He never expected that to work. Leader lit up instantly with a huge grin on his face, though Deidara didn't know if that was a _good_ thing. However, it got him a ton of scrolls about sealing and a whole lecture on learning the basic language of sealing instead of trying to memorize it. Leader also went over the first couple of scrolls with him, teaching him the theory of sealing.

It was about four months of living there before Sakura came to him to tell him the good news.

"Deidara!" Sakura yelled happily as she slammed into the blonde with a bear hug.

Both of them toppled over when he couldn't shift his weight in time, due to never being trained to. All the scrolls he had in his hands went flying everywhere.

He glanced at the rosette. They only ever spent time together at meals and the occasional check ups. She was far too busy trying to cure him to spend much time with him, though he was curious about her and wanted to know her better.

"Yeah?" Deidara groaned as he moved a bit into a more comfortable position on the ground.

"I can heal you!"

Those four simple words lifted his spirits. He glanced over at her happy expression as she snuggled further into his back, hugging him tighter.

It wasn't even three days later that he was prep for the operation and lying on her examination table, ready to be put under so she and Sasori-sensei could work on him.

"Are you ready for this Dei?" Sakura asked, using a shorter version of his name to ask him.

Deidara swallowed hard but nodded, "Yeah…"

His voice was weak, but he was really excited.

"There is a fourty-five percent chance you won't make it," Sasori-sensei explained to him, "Are you still willing?"

Nobody had told him that. He looked over to his sensei- his first real teacher who willing wanted him to acknowledge the fact that _he_, Deidara, was his student- and nodded. His resolve was already firmly placed in his heart. He was too stubborn to back out now.

"Go ahead," Deidara said, "If I die, then it beats the hell out of my life so far, yeah. If I live, then perhaps… life will finally, _truly_, begin."

"Alright then brat," Sasori said with a nod, "We will see you when you wake."

"Yeah, Deidara!" Sakura added, "I'll be there when you wake with some Bakudan, okay?"

"That sounds wonderful, yeah," Deidara said with a slight laugh.

Of course she would know his favorite food.

Her small but practiced hands reached for his head. He could feel her chakra invading his body, but it was warm and nice. He liked it.

His thoughts quickly flashed to an image of his whole family.

_Just you wait, yeah. I will become great. I will defy my fate! I refuse to be weak. Just you wait, yeah… I will prove to you that I _am_ capable of greatness! I will be a great shinobi! Even against your beliefs about me…_

_Just… you… wait… … … yeah…_

And with that, he was put under.

* * *

Sakura stared at Deidara for a minute, only half noticing that Sasori was putting in the IV for her as she steeled her resolve.

She was about to perform some of her hardest work- and she was ten. Most medics were at least in their thirties when they preformed huge surgeries like this, she was only ten.

Her mind worked differently then other people's and her resolve to protect the members pushed her to great heights.

But… this wasn't about the members anymore. This was just about one of them.

Deidara.

No one had more trust in her then him. It was apparent by him even lying here unconscious, trusting her to fix his problem.

And she felt honored.

This was no longer about Akatsuki and her usual 'I care for all the members' motto. That was gone now. This was different. No one else had actually been this trusting of her to go under the knife and not know if they would live or not.

Hidan didn't count. He couldn't die and he only let her dissect him when she paralyzed him and did it herself.

No, this was all about Deidara. His will to live and his complete trust in her skills.

Her stare hardened. She would not fail.

"Are you ready, Sakura-chan?" Sasori-sensei asked, pulling her away from her thoughts.

"Yes," Sakura said with a nod, "I am ready. Let us begin the procedure."

Deidara was going to live.

That was her resolve.

* * *

Deidara slowly become conscious. He was groggier then usual, but eventually he could think in sentences. There was that beeping again…

But this time it was a slower beat, not its usually fast little beeping that he had grown accustom to when he was in the hospital.

"You're awake," someone's voice echoed through his ears.

He concentrated on listening.

"Are you nauseas?"

He shook his head no.

"Having a hard time staying awake?"

He shook his head yes.

"Alright, go back to sleep, I'll talk to you when you wake again, okay?"

He didn't even answer; he was asleep before she finished.

Strange, he never felt this groggy before.

…

…

This time when he awoke, it wasn't as foggy. He opened his eye as looked around. He was in his room. He smiled at that prospect. That meant he lived.

But did that mean the problem was fixed?

Deidara went to stretch a bit, but his arm was tugged a bit. He looked down to see the IV and the strange thing they had on his finger.

Oh yeah, Sakura said that was what fed information to the heart monitor.

Slowly he realized there was something on his face, but he didn't need to guess what that was, it was a breathing tube, so he could get a pure supply of oxygen just in case he needed it.

"Oh, you're awake again," Sakura's voice could be heard at the door.

He looked over at her and stared at her big smile.

"I don't think I have to tell you," Sakura started with that grin of hers getting bigger, "But the operation was a huge success!"

"It was?" He croaked, looking surprised.

He knew it would be a success, but she made it seem like it was better results then expected.

She neared him and brought a straw that was in a glass of water to his lips.

"Drink some. I can't give you any hard food yet, the drugs are a little too strong, so it will take a while to get out of your system. From today on, you get everyday over the counter drugs for the pain. Can't have you getting addicted." Sakura explained as he sipped on the water thirstily.

"So how big of a success, yeah?" He asked her once he finished drinking all he wanted.

Her smile got bigger. She pulled a stethoscope off of around her neck and put the buds to his ear before she lightly said into the disk at the bottom- since all the noise was muffled by the buds- "Listen for yourself."

And with that, she slipped the cold disk under his shirt and in between the dressings to allowing him to hear better.

He froze as he listened. It was _loud_, _strong_. His heart had never sounded like this. His mother had let him listen once or twice to remind him that the weak, frail sounded fast heartbeat was his. But this one was slower, loud, and, well, strong sounding.

She then moved the disk where his lungs were.

"Breath in deeply," he could barely hear her say.

He followed her instruction and was surprised. It didn't hurt. It didn't make him cough. It felt comfortable and it sounded fine.

She pulled the buds out of his ears and placed the stethoscope back around her own neck.

"It was a complete success with more positive outcomes then I would have thought possible." Sakura started, smiling at him happily, "First off, your heart is the right size and will still grow as you get bigger. I made sure it will grow along with your body and stop when your body stops growing. Your fourth mouth will not be coming back. I made sure of it and even went to great lengths to make sure there wouldn't be any teeth growing there either. Sasori-sensei and I managed to make bone where you were missing any and it, too, will function properly with your body. Your lungs were inflated again. I took the liberty to make them as thick as I could. They will work without any problems, but they will still be rather delicate, so be careful in cold or wet climates. Other then that, you should be able to run, scream, and do all the strenuous activities you want. Also your stomach wasn't as large as it should have been, so I made it bigger. How have you been eating all the food I gave you? It must have caused you huge stomach aches from overeating!"

"It did." Deidara said. "I went to sleep usually with an angry stomach growling at me, yeah."

"Oh. Well… I fixed the problem. That won't happen again. So you are good to go, but for now though, rest in bed. Give it a week to heal properly."

Deidara nodded. He only had to spend a week more lying in bed and then…

He was free.

He looked at the rosette who was looking at his heart monitor and the other systems he was hooked up on and decided that she wasn't bad at all.

"Hey, Sakura-chan."

Sakura turned and scowled at him a bit, "Don't call me that!"

"Okay then," Deidara smiled happily as he looked at her, "Sakura-hime, Arigato."

He pulled her closer and quickly pecked her forehead. She paused for a moment, her face flushing as she pulled away and was a safe distance from the boy before she murmured out a 'You're welcome'.

She was so cute. Deidara decided. Very cute. He would enjoy her as his partner very much.

* * *

Well that is a wrap!

Reveiw. You know the happiness that blossoms in a person's soul when you click the little button at the bottom and tell them what you think. As long as they aren't flames, people should appreciate them! Criticism is expected, your comments are welcomed, and I would love to know what you think of my redefined version of Sakura is like. Heck any of the Akatsuki members. You know my usual questions and if you don't... well... what would you want in a review? Think about it.

Tell what you think about this Deidara in this story? Sakura and Deidara together? How is the story developing in your tastes?

P.S. All of you are asking about ages for Sakura and Deidara so here:

Sakura-10

Deidara-13

Itachi-15

I mentioned all their ages in the stories, but, well, just incase you couldn't remember.

Thankies! -_bows_- Please take care of this story!

Ja Ne

Volleys-chan


	8. Chapter 8

Greetings.

Yes... This was hard for me to write. I had no clue where I wanted to go after half way through it and I finally decided what I wanted. I am almost to the point to where I wanted to really start the story. Can you believe this is all background? Ha. I know. But it is very important to understand her relationship with all the Akatsuki members.

So anyways, this is the new chapter and I hope you can enjoy it.

Enjoy

* * *

_**Hummingbird**_

Chapter 8

_As Time goes by_

* * *

**Disclaimer: Do not own Naruto**

* * *

It was so surreal.

That was what he had decided.

He had never been allowed to do this, running around and exploring the training ground area that was like a huge greenhouse.

Never.

But now that's what he was doing! He had been allowed to put off his duties for one day and just… play.

He had just come across the pond not too long ago and was content at just sitting in front of it and watching it move in and out. He had never been so close to a large body of water. He wasn't allowed outside when it had been wet, so he never played with puddles, let alone ponds. So when he had become a missing nin, he avoided the same things he knew he wasn't suppose to be near, out of caution and habit.

"Are you just going to sit there all day, kid?" Someone asked him, stirring him from his musings.

He found himself lifted up into the air and had two blue hands around his small frame with a vice-grip.

"Kisame-san!" Deidara yelped out as he grabbed onto the man's forearms in surprise.

He heard a hearty laugh from behind him and craned his neck to see the sharp teeth of the shark man smiling at him.

"Well?" Kisame asked, "You have a whole day to screw around and you spend it staring at water? Goldilocks, just go swimming if you want to stare at water all day."

Deidara paled when he realized what Kisame was about to do. He grabbed on with all his might before he was able to blurt out the right words.

"I can't, yeah," He yelled as fast as he could.

"Can't? Or won't?" Kisame asked, looking at the boy curiously.

Deidara's face burned with embarrassment as he looked down refusing to make eye contact with the small silver eyes of the blue man. Kisame seemed to understand, since he set the boy down.

"Didn't anyone teach you to swim? Even little princess knew how to stay afloat when she got here." Kisame said, really shocked.

It was unheard of where he came from for a child not to at least know how to do the breast stroke or _float_ even. Deidara kept his head down, but shook it negatively.

"No one. No one taught you how to swim?" Kisame was still trying to grasp the concept. He bent down a bit to at least see Deidara's face, "why not?"

"Because I would have died." Deidara said, pouting a bit, "I couldn't even run a week ago without having some sort of attack, yeah. How am I suppose to swim when it is just as strenuous? I would have drowned instead of just lying on the ground gasping for air."

Kisame stared at him a moment longer before standing up and picking the boy up by the back of his collar.

"Well we can't have you drowning now that you _can_ do strenuous activities, so strip down to you pants and get in the water." Kisame barked, before dropping the small boy.

"But…" Deidara was at a loss of words.

His visible eyes was wide from shock and his mouth was hanging open. He had landed ungracefully on his butt and he was leaning back into his arms to look up at the giant man pulling off his Akatsuki jacket and pulling off his shoes.

"Strip or I'll just throw you in as you are," Kisame warned, pulling off his left shoe.

Deidara didn't need to be warned again, he immediately started pulling off his shoes and jacket as well as his mesh and tank top. He quickly pulled his hair out of the simple pony tail and tied it into a braid.

"Are you ready?" Kisame asked, beginning to wade into the water.

"Um…" Deidara felt hesitant again, feeling the water and shivering at the cold feel it had.

Kisame rolled his eyes, grabbing the boy and carrying him into the water. Deidara clung to him so hard that it was almost comical. Almost. Once the water came up to his pectorals, he stopped. He pulled Deidara off of him and dropped him into the water.

"See," Kisame laughed, "Everyone can swim. You just can't swim well."

Deidara would have yelled at him, but currently he was trying not to drown so he could yell at the big blue man about this later.

"Alright," Kisame began, moving Deidara into a swimming position, "Let's teach you how to _float_ first."

"I am sooo going to get you for this later, Kisame-san." Deidara promised as he stopped choking on the water he inhaled.

"Get in line, there are about twenty-three people ahead of you." Kisame said with a goofy grin, "You'll just have to wait your turn. Now hold still and straighten your back and feet a bit more, there we go-"

Kisame didn't know it, but he was going to end up teaching Deidara more then just how to swim.

* * *

"What's Kisame doing?" Sakura asked as the looked from the tree she and Sasori were… 'studying' in.

Sasori glanced up from his book and smirked, "I believe I have seen this before."

"Really? Where?" Sakura asked, turning her head to look curiously at her sensei.

"About two years ago," Sasori said, looking back at his book, "When a little girl asked me where the anatomy books were."

"Kisame's going to take Deidara up as his student?" Sakura asked, amazed.

She looked back down at the scene of Deidara clinging again to Kisame while the man took him into deeper water.

"Strange, it looks like Deidara's terrified."

"He's a very smart child, not physically strong in any way. Deidara has never swam before, so one can only guess he's afraid. As for Kisame… Just call it a hunch," Sasori said, turning his page.

Sakura continued to watch, noticing how when Kisame let go, the boy sank like a rock… in the deeper end.

She could just see the curse word form itself on Kisame's lips as he dived further to save the boy, pulling him up thirty seconds later. He had Deidara's body slumped over his shoulder as the boy coughed and hacked, gasping for fresh air as Kisame patted his back and laughed heartily.

She could only imaging Deidara's embarrassed look.

She watched as they tried again, this time Deidara was able to stay afloat. She half studied what she was suppose to be studying and half watched the slow efforts of Kisame's lesson pay off. By the end of an hour and a half, Deidara was doing the breast-stroke, free-style, and back-stroke.

She winced a few times for the blonde when he obviously hit a rock in the murky water. He would grit his teeth and keep going, but even from her distance, she could sense his distress and agony as he pressed on.

It wasn't until after he ran into a rock head on that Kisame decided to end the lesson, pulling the boy out of the water and putting him on dry land to inspect the nasty bump that had the boy tearing up every time it was touched.

"Kisame seems to be enjoying himself," Sakura noted, as she squirmed in her spot.

"Stop squirming," Sasori calmly said before looking himself, "Yes, he does. I will see if he would like to train Deidara in the mornings instead. Kami knows the child needs it."

"Aw," Sakura whined, "But then when will I train with him! He's my partner and I can't not know how to incorporate my talents with his! There would be no team work!"

"Itachi said he would teach Deidara the counterpart taijutsu to yours, and Konan wanted to take him shopping today. I will dismiss you early so you can tend to his wounds and go with the two. He is learning sealing from Pein-sama around noon-ish usually, so he can probably work with you and I around three so he has some medical knowledge and if he plays his cards right, Kakazu will teach him elemental chakra. Perhaps you should drag him to one of your classes with Zetsu when he is around?"

"Oh I see! Help him get the opportunities to work with me!" Sakura smiled happily, "That would work!"

"Yes," Sasori said, looking back at his book, "Now be gone with you and take Deidara to go see Konan after he's drier and has been treated."

"Hai, Sasori-sensei!" With a brilliant flash of cherry blossoms, Sakura transported off the tree and closer to Deidara and Kisame.

* * *

"I'm not going to lie, kid," Kisame said as he carefully handled the boy's swelling arm, "Whatever you did to it, was bad."

"I just hit a rock in the shallow water, yeah," Deidara said defensively, pulling his arm away, almost passing out from the pain that shot through his nerve system.

"Oi," Kisame said, grabbing onto him and holding him up, "Don't pass out on me."

"I'm not," Deidara hissed, trying to fight back the nausea that rolled in, "I'm just not use to…"

"He's not use to being treated like any other kid, Kisame," Sakura said as she landed on the ground gracefully with a medical kit in her hands, "I was checking up on Deidara when I saw him swim into the rock."

Deidara winced in embarrassment at the thought of her seeing him get the large goose egg.

"So I am here to see what else he managed to damage." Sakura finished as if she didn't see him wince. "Kisame, you should have taken him to the other pond, the one meant for _you_ swimming in. It would have caused less problems."

Kisame shrugged as he let go of Deidara and began to walk off, "I just wanted to see what he was about. I have a good idea now. See you later Princess, Goldilocks."

"Stop calling me that, yeah!" Deidara yelled angrily, only to get a laugh in reply.

With that, Kisame disappeared, leaving Sakura to clean up the damage inflicted on the boy.

"Let me see your arm," Sakura said, holding her hand out gently.

Deidara slowly offered his wounded arm. He was afraid of the pain shooting through his whole system again. She held it lightly as she observed it, flowing her chakra into his arm and soothing it almost instantly as she healed it.

He watched the green chakra until it faded, taking in the shades and values of the ever changing green glow. He flexed his hand and rotated his wrist after she let go to observe her work. Nothing hurt at all.

"Well, that should fix that problem," Sakura said before leaning forward and hovering her hand over his bump, "Please be more careful though."

"Okay, yeah," Deidara said, refraining from nodding as she was currently healing his head.

"No concussion, just a nasty bump," She mumbled to herself as she pulled away, moving to the next spot she knew was hurt.

She lifted his shirt to see the deep colored indigo block on his side that was already forming. He was surprise that she had even known about it. Then it clicked.

"You were spying on me, weren't you?" He asked with a horrified tone.

Sakura smiled guiltily, "I was curious."

She continued to heal his wound even though she could _feel_ that frown on his lips and the glare he was giving her.

She pulled away and moved onto his leg.

"How long?"

"Eh… since…" Sakura made her voice barely there as her face heated up, being at least embarrassed about being caught spying, "this morning…"

"The whole time," Deidara yelped, pulling away with an angry, embarrassed look, his face pinker then her hair color, "You were _watching_ me this whole time, yeah! Even when I…"

"Tripped and face-planted, yes," Sakura said nodding, her head sinking lower under his angry gaze, "sorry…"

"Do you spy on _everyone_!"

"No…" Sakura squirmed, "But… they can always sense me coming, so… there is no point to spying on them. They usually just include me on what they are doing. I didn't think you would… and I was curious about how you would spend your day."

"Don't you have other kids you're age you can bother?" Deidara huffed as he tried to calm down.

"Besides you?" Sakura said, her eyes getting dimmer, "No."

Deidara couldn't stay mad at her long now that he really thought about it, not like that sad, sorrow-filled look on her face wasn't helping. She had grown up here for however long with the closest in age being Itachi- who he came to find out not too long ago was 15 currently. Five year gap was a really large gap for playmate wise. She was only ten. He was thirteen. Closer in age and as he had said to her months ago, he didn't really know how to act around kids his age.

It wasn't that he didn't want to be friends with her. He just was upset that she had seen him being so clumsy and unfamiliar with running and swimming and all the other things he was trying to mimic that he had seen other kids do. His face burned a bit at the thought of her seeing him try to climb a tree and just end up crashing back onto the ground when he lost his hold of the lowest branch.

"Oh… well… Just… next time ask me." Deidara said, his face still lightly flushed as he tried to act indifferent and failing, "I mean, I wouldn't mind you hanging around with me. You _are_ my partner after all, yeah. Just next time _ask_ if you can join me."

That much he knew by his mother telling him how to act with other children who came to visit temporarily while their parents were there to strengthen bonds with his family's dying clan.

"Really?" Sakura asked, eyes widening at that thought of not only having a partner, but a playmate, "I only have to ask you?"

"Yeah."

"Yay!" Sakura cheered happily before grabbing his hand with both of hers and giving a tug, pulling him up in one clumsy movement on his part. "Can I come with you and Konan-san today when you go pick out your new clothes?"

"Eh," Deidara righted himself, leaning back a bit at her excitement, lost at what to do, "Sure?"

Wait, when was this decided anyways?

"Great!" Sakura cheered again, taking his hand and leading the way, "Then let's go find Konan-san!"

Deidara was a little surprised at her enthusiasm, but trailed along, surprised that she wasn't afraid of his hand. No one without the trait- other then his mother and Taka's wife- ever wanted to hold one of the clan members' hands. His tongue darted out and licked her in his surprise.

She jumped lightly, looking curiously down at his hand she was still holding before looking up at him.

"Sorry," Deidara said, looking down, waiting for her to take back her hand.

"That's okay, it just surprised me," Sakura said, smiling, "I was just wondering if you have complete control or do they tend to run off emotions or reactions?"

"Eh…" Deidara looked at her strangely again before managing an answer, "I can control them. It took a long time, but I have the best control over their movements in my whole family, yeah. However, sudden things like excitement, surprise, or fear will make them react."

"Oh," Sakura mused for a second before her grin became wider, "So cool!"

Deidara decided that she was the strangest person that he had ever met…

But he wouldn't have her any different.

* * *

The months passed. Deidara had a brand new wardrobe that didn't consist of hand-me-downs that Itachi had parted with. Though, to Sakura's chagrin, he was given kosodes, hakamas, and, for the occasion he wanted to look a little more well dressed, haoris- all of them vast varities of color. He looked amazing in them, like a force to be reckoned with, but it just irritated her that he only had a few outfits made distinctly for missions- to match her.

Both he and Sakura were kept as busy as usual, perhaps even more busy for Deidara as he fought to catch up with Sakura physical wise. His routine had changed the most.

Kisame had picked up his physical training rather than Sasori, which Sakura felt bad for him for because Kisame was much more of a dictator than Sasori in that area. She knew, he trained her in swordplay.

Deidara had to get up early mornings and train till breakfast. Kisame would make him run, climb, swim, track, hunt, attack, fence, and practice silencing his movements. Then while Sakura began her own physical training, he joined her for a small part of it, going back to Kisame's demanding schedule straight afterwards. He usually ended up swimming laps back and forth for over an hour near end.

Itachi would come in and save him- Kami bless the raven haired teen despite how much Deidara said he disliked him- and take him to a private area and begin to teach him the counter part of Sakura's taijutsu. Itachi had been considerate to how embarrassing learning the moves were. They were fluid, graceful movements that he had at first argued were for a girl.

Deidara learned that he was built for the form. He had inherited his mother's natural flexibility and dexterity and was as graceful as they came once he became more conscious of his movements.

He had to get all the movements just right or Itachi would make him do it all over again. He was only allowed to practice synchronizing it with Sakura's after he had mastered it on its own- which he was had only been able to do after four months to Itachi's standard.

Sasori would then steal both him and Sakura away for some studying. He would make Deidara memorize the body and the different parts and different ways of killing a human. Sakura was better at it than he was, but he was coming up with some rather inventive ways of killing a person in one hit. Sasori also did all their mental lessons, teaching them everything he could possible fill their heads with.

After all the mental work that Sasori would put them under, they were allowed lunch. Deidara ate everything he was given, and then he was off again to learn.

Pein would be waiting in the library for him, and while Sakura was off practicing her own things, he was learning from the carrot head all he could about the art of seals.

The first couple of days, he had crashed. Pein seemed to be amused at his exhausted state and let him sleep instead. He just piled the homework on him later for it.

Konan would come in eventually and take him away for singing. He thought her insane at first for even making him do this, but as the lessons continued, he felt his breath control get better and better.

Deidara, after Konan released him, would find Sakura and they would spend time with either Zetsu or Kakazu –if one or both of them were around- and learn even more about different things.

Kakazu was against it at first, but then Deidara started to trade him, giving him some of his already preset clay explosives that would go off with a flux of chakra sent into them. Kakazu liked it, so he showed the squirt how to control his elements better and taught him strategies and such when he felt like it.

Zetsu was also interested in him. Deidara had come in curious about plants and botany, so Zetsu taught him right along Sakura who was never absent for these classes.

The only person that Deidara stayed away from was Hidan. He was still angry about almost ending up a sacrifice.

Near the end, right before dinner, Kisame would take him again and throw him a practice sword. They would go as long as he deemed necessary, usually until the middle of dinner.

Deidara would study and practice his own things for a while after dinner right before Sakura would come into his room and begin reconstructing his blind eye.

At first, he would conk out right after dinner, but slowly, he noticed, he was able to survive it a little better. He was eating as much as he was given to keep his energy up and though he had filled out to normal weight, he never gained an ounce of fat after he began his training. If anything, he could slowly see himself become more toned. He was at the age where his muscles wouldn't get too big or defined, but he could see himself getting muscle mass.

He realized that he could run farther, faster, with more grace and fluid motions. He wasn't clumsy in his movements anymore and he prided himself in looking graceful and cat like on his feet. He could climb trees without making a fool out of himself, and he was becoming confident in what he could do.

He could see shapes and colors in his left eye again and each day they were getting sharper and clearer with each healing session. His eye still looked the same as the way it had healed, but it was becoming better the more Sakura spent time mending it.

He was also getting to know his partner even better than before. He learned that she had a temper, but he didn't mind. If anything he loved flaring up those destructive emotions that left her training grounds filled with holes. She was smart too. He loved how often she could surprise him with something totally unexpected. To him, she was the biggest puzzle in the world, and he loved puzzles. In his eyes, the two of them were like ying and yang. They blurred each other's flaws so well that no one could tell if either of them were lacking in anything. That was why they were taught separately at times.

"Come here Goldilocks," Kisame called over to him, breaking Deidara of his musings.

He looked up before quickly pulling himself off the ground where he was doing push ups.

"Yes, Kisame-sensei?" Deidara asked as he jogged over the blue fish man.

Kisame looked down at the boy. His long blonde hair was tied up in a braid so it wasn't in his way and the braid ended halfway down his hair, leaving the rest in a pony tail like state. He was wearing a black kosode and a grey pair of hakama with light grey clouds on the bottom. His student looked healthy and strong, much more capable than when he had received him.

"You and the princess have a mission," Kisame said in a gruff tone, trying to sound indifferent, "And I mean a real mission, not the little crap missions I or Sasori might send you two on, but a real one. Go find Leader-sama and get debriefed. Then get changed and ready to go. The rest of your training is cancelled till further notice."

He hadn't even finished his last sentence before the blonde was gone. Kisame chuckled. No doubt he was already running full speed to catch his precious Sakura-hime to tell her about their first official mission.

It wasn't all that impressive really, Kisame thought to himself as he stroked his sword, the sentient sword bristling happily. It was a basic recon mission that would cause them no harm and no trouble at all. Pein just wanted to see where the two of them were at because it would require teamwork.

Deidara had groaned loudly when they had gotten back from their first mission together. It was so easy! He had complained to everyone that was around. Sakura was making the same fuss as he was, but soon, both of them found themselves going on a lot more missions.

The months had turned into a year. Deidara's birthday came up right before Sakura's. Both celebrated with the rest of Akatsuki, receiving presents from their makeshift family members. Sasori gave Sakura yet another doll. She was collecting them now- all made by Sasori. He gave Deidara anatomy books of animals. Hidan gave both of them some creepy voodoo thing. When he wasn't paying attention, they buried the things out under a tree and hoped no one ever found those horrid things. The tree a month later. Itachi gave them valuable scrolls. Pein gave Sakura yet another rare technique as he always did for each birthday, and gave Deidara his own large scroll of sealing. Kakazu gave them expensive jewelry. Zetsu gave them rare poisonous plants. Konan got them both outfits. Kisame got them swords, Deidara's was for when he was full grown. Then, Kisame announced that Deidara was officially his apprentice. That was an honor in and of itself.

Sakura and Deidara continued on. The missions grew tougher with each passing one, making their teamwork sharp and precise. Both were impossible to capture. No one knew them, no one saw them, and no one ever was able to identify them. Apparently, Deidara had been marked dead in the bingo books, so he was a free shinobi at last. He looked nothing like the weak little boy that had come to them.

He had grown in the last year and a half. He was the shortest of all the Akatsuki members, but they figured that was because of how frail and starved he had come to them. He was taller than Sakura, and almost to Sasori's shoulders, but was short. It didn't stop him though.

His hair had grown longer than before, reaching his upper thigh. Deidara usually kept a hair tie somewhere around shoulder length and threw it over his shoulder to the front to keep people from tugging it. He didn't like getting his hair cut. He usually kept his discolored eye hidden behind his hair, so it didn't draw attention in crowds, but if he was studying, he pushed his long fringes out of his face and behind his ear.

His face and body had been stripped of the baby fat and had been replaced with muscle. He stamina had been raised as well. He could run for hours and hours on end at the same pace. He practiced swords and he swam often. His mind was sharp had he had an amazing knowledge of seals too. But he still loved to rely on his art in battle. Unless they were out in the open fighting, which never happened, he used his clay figurines to cause eye catching distractions, wipe out the target in a explosion, unlock doors, or just to spy. He was talented with his artwork.

Sakura had changed too. She was no longer a tiny little thing. Though compared to all the others, she was short and small, only reaching right below Deidara's shoulders, but she was no longer so small that they teased her about being a little doll.

Her hair was the same: short and out of her way. She couldn't understand why Deidara liked his so long when there were so many disadvantages to it. She liked hers quick to shower, quick to dry, and quick to brush. She still had her cut little bob cut, but she made sure to keep her hair her perfect length.

If anything, her ability in the art of healing had multiplied. She understood the different ways to kill a person, to heal a person, and how to treat a patient in life threatening situations. She usually practiced on animals, since most of the time the members of Akatsuki never allowed themselves to get hurt (other than Hidan who Kakazu dealt with). She was lethal with her attacks. Her chakra control was that of a master and she had no problem going hours and hours without draining her reserves as much as the others. She had picked up puppetry, but she still liked Deidara's terms of doing things- destruction.

They were a perfect team. They went, saw, and conquered anything that was thrown at them, then come back, and study and train. They had flaws. They knew this. However, they worked hard at trying to overcome them.

However, all good things must have an end.

Deidara let out a string of curses as he held his forearm, trying to keep it from bleeding out any more. Sakura was in front of him, both running for their lives.

"They are still heading our way, we can't get out without you using your kekkei genkai," Sakura yelled back to him, keeping her pace ahead of his the best that she could.

"Keep going, yeah," Deidara called up to her, "If you get caught, we are all screwed."

It was suppose to be easy. The mission was suppose to be a repossession of an old artifact, but the information had been wrong. It was suppose to be unguarded, but it had been… By Iwa nins no less.

Deidara was grateful that he had his Iwa protector back in his room and the Akatsuki headband on his forehead. Right now would not be a great time to be identified as the run away Deidara from Iwa. He snorted to himself. Not that he looked like a little boy anymore.

They were coming in too fast. They would never lose these older and more experienced hunter nins, no matter how talented he and Sakura were, they lacked experience. Potential could only go so far, experience was something these shinobi trumped them on.

"But Dei," Sakura tried to protest.

He shook his head. They were a team, yes, but he would not let her get caught up in a fight they couldn't win. He glanced at his arm which was still bleeding. They had gotten him after the surprise attack. They were talented if they could cause such a heavy gash without having need to bring out the big guns.

"Go on. I know you are faster than me," Deidara called out, waving his hand as a way to tell her to go away, "Go! I'll get them off your trail. See you later!"

"But Dei-"

He cut her off.

"Go, Hime, you can't get caught, yeah. We can't outrun them, even with our speed. They are going to catch up." He argued as he slowed to a stop, "Just go."

She stalled for a minute, biting her lip.

"Go." Deidara said once more with a tone that let her know there was no room to argue.

She inhaled a deep breath, nodding.

"Don't die okay? Come back to us, Dei… Please come back."

Deidara chuckled as he turned around to where the pursuers were coming, "I intend to come back, yeah. But I would never forgive myself if you got hurt, Hime."

"And you think I can if you get hurt?"

"It's my choice… I'm older," Deidara finalized, "I am older and thus I am in charge, yeah!! Go! Now!"

"Alright…" She whispered, continue on, "I'm going. I'll come back with help."

"Please do that," Deidara said, pulling out a kunai.

She kept running, as fast as her little legs would allow. She could feel that the men had stopped chasing her, Deidara was their target now. She didn't stop for rest or food or even water. She ran as long as it took her to get to the border. She had failed him. Tears leaked down her face as she hit the border. She needed to get to the others as fast as possible…

Deidara had lost. He hadn't caught up. He would have caught up if he won and he hadn't popped up chuckling and telling her how easy it was.

She knew that and felt so responsible for him staying out. She felt the pang of guilt as she ran straight through the doors and began to spurt out what had happened. Itachi and Sasori were the only ones currently in the common room.

"Deidara!!! He stayed behind!" She cried out, "There were Iwa hunter nin there and caught us by surprise!! He stayed behind so I could get away."

Sakura hadn't cried since Itachi had found her, but by now she was bawling as she cried. Sasori, who was just about to leave for a mission, scooped her up and rocked her as she cried helplessly.

"I failed him," She cried, "I failed Deidara-kun! I failed."

Itachi cast a worried glance as he looked over to Kisame and Pein who had just come in.

"We need to find Deidara," Itachi said, his voice tight and dangerous sounding.

"Aye, we do," Kisame nodded, "I am not about to find a new apprentice. He's too talented."

"I agree," Pein nodded, "Itachi, Kisame, go track down where Deidara might have been taken. He was wearing our forehead protector, they won't kill him because of curiousity. They don't know who we are and thus they will be interested in getting information out of him. Sasori, forget your mission. Get Sakura under control and fed. How long have you been running?"

Sakura shrugged. She couldn't remember. She just kept crying as Sasori petted her hair.

No one hesitated when Pein stopped talking. Itachi and Kisame were gone in a flash. Iwa had several places they might have taken him and they had to get Deidara back as soon as possible…

Before it was too late.

* * *

Ages at the end of the chapter:

Sakura-11 (Almost 12)

Deidara-14 (Almost 15)

Itachi-16 (Almost 17)

I mentioned all their ages in the stories, but, well, just incase you couldn't remember.

Thankies! -_bows_- Please take care of this story!

Ja Ne

Volleys-chan


	9. Chapter 9

Greetings.

Now the story is getting somewhere. Probably not where you all thought it would head, but it is heading in the right direction against what you all think afterwards. Please do not censor what you think about this turn of evens, I like hearing from you all.

So anyways, this is the new chapter and I hope you can enjoy it.

Enjoy

* * *

_**Hummingbird**_

Chapter 9

_When Words are Not Enough, Just Being There is..._

* * *

**Disclaimer: Do not own Naruto**

* * *

Kisame and Itachi looked as fast as possible, but they had been looking for him for about a month in a half. He was in one of the dungeons near the outskirts of Iwa. One that was known for being one of their crueler dungeons.

By the time that they had even managed to find him, sneak in, and rescue the poor boy, no matter how quickly they had been in their search for him, it had been too late. Sure, Deidara was alive, but the torture had been gruesome and Iwa was known for its low tactics of interrogation.

Itachi had been the one to pick him up; he was shaking like a leaf and even flinched at Itachi's hold. Kisame cleared out the place, leaving none alive who had harmed his apprentice, and the three of them left in a swirl of ash.

Sasori and Sakura had been informed when the two nins had found him and Sakura had jumped at the chance to meet them at a rendezvous point. She had recovered from her breakdown after a good three days of Sasori watching over her and giving her a lecture about duty.

So Sakura was sitting impatiently in a tree next to the equally impatient Sasori. Both were beginning to show signs of discontent and Sakura was constantly wiggling. Not enough to draw notice to their hiding place, but enough to agitate Sasori.

"Sit still," he ordered as he looked at her, "You're being annoying."

"I can't help it, I'm worried," Sakura said as she looked up at Sasori with concern in her eyes, "What if he's hurt badly? He doesn't take to treatment very well."

"I'm sure you will patch him up good as new, you're good with that sort of thing Sakura," Sasori said as he patted her head.

He still hated acting human, but Sakura and Deidara were his only exceptions.

Finally Itachi showed up, with Deidara curled into a ball in his arms. The boy was a mess. Not only did he look pale and sickly, but something else looked wrong. His hip was disjointed and he was bleeding everywhere, but that was not what Sakura noticed was wrong.

"Put him down," Sakura said as she leapt from her spot and landed gracefully on her feet.

Itachi did as he was told and she gently began to pet his hair. He was still curled in a ball, not willing to uncurl at all. He was shaking like a leaf and whimpering at her touch.

"Deidara?" Sakura coaxed, "come on, uncurl yourself."

He wouldn't budge. Sakura sighed as she pulled him into her hold, hugging him tightly as she began to stroke his back.

"Sasori, do you have a puppet we can transport them in?" Itachi asked, knowing it wasn't wise to try to move Deidara again.

It was obvious what they had done to the usually loud mouthed child. The way even the softest touch sent him shaking like a leaf.

All Sasori did was nod, pulling out one of his more interesting puppets that he had made to entertain Sakura when she was younger. It was a large tiger puppet with an area on his back for riding in. It was perfect for transporting the boy as Sakura tried to soothe him.

Sakura easily gathered him up and hopped onto the tiger's back, once again trying to uncurl Deidara. The boy was still as tightly wound as when she had received him. It was going to be a long day.

* * *

By nightfall, they were back at the base, Sasori had helped transport Deidara into the boy's room and Sakura had gone to get the needed medical items to fix up the boy.

"His leg healed wrong," Sakura said as she pulled up his pant leg and exposed the crippled leg, "I can fix it but…"

"Can I assist you, Sakura?" Sasori asked as he rolled up his sleeves.

It was sort of like old times right then and there, but right at this moment, they didn't have time to think of it like that, only be concerned for Deidara.

"Yes Sasori-sensei, I will definitely need help with this." Sakura said as she pulled out a large needle and IV bag from her stack of supplies.

She quickly filled it with the numbing medicine and began to pull up Deidara's tattered shirt.

"Deidara-kun, I need to fix your leg, I'm going to give you an epidural to numb you from the waist down, okay?"

"I… I just… I mean… no… I really…" Deidara began to ramble as he tried to pull away.

"We aren't going to hurt you Deidara-kun, you won't feel a thing. I just want you to understand what I'm doing. We'll take care of you," Sakura said as she traced her fingers down his spin, finding the right spot.

"No… no… no… NO!" Deidara started to yell as he thrashed about on his bed.

"Hold him down," Sakura yelled as she lost her spot on his spin.

Sasori shot out some chakra strings, connecting to the boy's body and keeping him motionless on his back. The blonde was hyperventilating as Sakura managed to stick the needle in between two of his spinal disks. Quickly after that she left it there, Sasori still holding him down, and began to gentle pet his hair and whispering quietly to calm him down from his hysteria.

"You're safe now Dei-kun, you're safe. No one is going to hurt you here, we are just patching you up." She whispered as she petted his hair.

After a good half an hour, he was breathing normally… well for someone with one collapsed lung.

Sasori had decided to just use his special chakra strings to hold the boy down so he could assist as well. Sakura began the process as she began to poke and prod at his legs. He didn't flinch, so they were numb.

"Hold him down, the sound is going to spook him," Sakura warned.

She knew that Deidara was too out of it to really listen to what she was saying, so she didn't worry over him hearing her.

Sasori nodded and leaned forward, ready to apply needed chakra to mend the wound once she set it.

In one sickening crack, Sakura broke his leg where it had been broken and reset it the next instant. She pulled out a scalpel and administered an incision so she could inspect the bone.

All the while Deidara was trying to break free in fear of the noise and pressure applied to his leg. He was clutching the fabric of the bed with all his might as he began to ramble about being a good child.

Sakura guessed this mind had gone back to a time with his family, his mother scolding him for hurting himself when he knew better. She tried to ignore it but it hurt her too. Oh why didn't she just put him out? She was beginning to wonder why she thought him best awake.

"Concentrate Sakura," Sasori's voice pulled her back.

Right. She would thing about this later. Right now she had to finish fixing his leg.

The area around it was a mess. Muscle and nerve tissue were caught up the bone, so she had to scrap it clean and begin the healing process there. Slowly, she mended the bone, breaking down the large knot of bone that was caused by the bad heal job, healed the tissue and fixed the skin.

She nodded at Sasori, who checked her work and healed anything she might have missed.

Next the two of them had turned Deidara over and cut his shirt off. He looked starved again, but not as bad as the first time. There was obvious bruising on the skin around his rib cage and several bite marks around his neck, arms, and torso.

"Barbaric Iwa nins," Sasori said yet again as he touched a bite mark, sending Deidara into hysteria.

"Put him out," Sasori said as he held down the trashing Deidara, his chakra strings gone when the boy surged his chakra.

Sakura sighed as she rested her hands on his forehead. His eyes widened as tears began to mix in with the blood. This was why she didn't put him out, she reminded herself. He was afraid of going under after what torture they had probably done to him, his dreams were no longer safe. His eyes finally met hers with some sort of lucidness to them, pleading her not to put him under.

Sakura sighed as she stroked his forehead gently, looking at him with an apologetic look, "It'll just be for a little while Dei, then you'll wake up feeling better."

And with that, she pushed her charka into his body and put him under.

Then, the real work began.

* * *

His fingers were set, his arms wrapped in bandages and right arm in a sling to release pressure from his newly repaired shoulder, his hip bone was repaired as well as his pelvis, his ribs put back in place, his lung was repaired as well as his other vital organs, all signs of bite marks or sexual abuse erased from his body, and his head was wrapped nicely in gauze, coving his head wounds and his left eye that had take the worst damage of the two.

It had only taken the entire night. Deidara was still a bloody mess, but Sasori had managed to clean him up a bit before dressing him in his loose silk sleeping shirt and pants. He would wash them when Deidara was getting washed.

Sakura was sleeping right next to he boy, holding his head protectively in her arms as she curved her body next to his, spooning him as they slept.

Sasori sighed tiredly as he covered both of them with the sheets and blankets, making sure Deidara's foot was propped by a pillow as well as his and Sakura's head.

He had left them to sleep as he made his way to Pein to give the report.

Pein was easy to find. He was sitting with Konan in the kitchen, drinking tea sullenly as he waited for news.

Pein had become different in the last few years. The more time he had spent with Sakura and Deidara had caused his heart to soften, allowing him to see things in a new light: To value life as precious gift. He had been restless when Deidara had gone missing. Even Konan had trouble focusing.

"Is he alright?" Konan asked once she saw the puppet at the door.

The red head sighed as he nodded, "He is stable, but they must had sexually abused him as well. He is having difficulty being touched and not going hysterical and is also reacting badly to being restrained. Perhaps a small phobia of both, but nothing that cannot be overcome. He is thinner then is healthy and probably should not be moved for at least a week. He reeks, so as long as it is carefully, we can wash him."

Pein nodded as he looked again at his tea, "Once he has recovered a bit, I think we should move Sakura and Deidara to a safer place."

Sasori raised a brow to that, "Why is that?"

"The true leader will be showing up in a year. He will not like the decision I have made and will retaliate. He knows not of Sakura and Deidara, so at least those two will be able to escape his wrath."

"And what of us?" Sasori asked.

"We stay and go along with it until we can turn the tables. We will just do our best to not succeed at the Bijuu missions."

Sasori nodded, as well as Konan.

"But where is it safe?" Konan asked with a hint of worry.

"I know where," a voice said from the door, all three looked to see Itachi and Kisame.

"Where would that be, Itachi-san," Pein asked as he looked at the Sharingan user.

"When I came here, I was sent as a spy from Konoha. I had killed my clan as a mission from the Hokage and the council. I didn't kill my brother and thus was not allowed to remain, so I was sent on this mission. You're objective has changed and no longer is a threat to Konoha, so I say we use the favor owed to me by the Hokage and send the two there."

Even though he knew he should be ticked at Itachi playing double agent, he was glad to hear about a safe place for the young teens. Itachi had saved them.

"Though I should kill you for treason, I am glad that you are what you are. We are now all on the same side against him, so I will let it slide. In a week, if possible, travel down to Konoha and talk to your Hokage." Pein said with a nod.

Itachi nodded as well, "I'll leave in the morning to talk to him. If he accepts the idea, I'll come back for the two… if not…"

"We'll think of another way." Konan said calmly.

With that, Itachi 'hn'ed and left the room.

* * *

It was early the next morning when Deidara woke, having a panic attack when realizing he was being held. Sakura had woken after that and took a while to calm him down.

"Are you feeling better?" Sakura said as she looked at his right blue eye.

It took him a minute of fidgeting before he mumbled his trademark 'yeah'.

Sakura beamed as happily as she could, looking at him with tenderness, "Good. I'm going to go get you something to eat and we'll work our way through a small routine to see if everything is healing right."

Deidara swallowed hard as he tried to pull up his blankets with his good arm as he weakly said the word 'okay'. Sakura quickly helped him pull it up and fluffed his pillow to he was comfortable. She would check his leg once she was sure he had sustenance down him.

No one was in the kitchen that morning, so Sakura made some oatmeal porridge and added some milk and dried fruit to the top along with a glass of milk. She put it on a tray and took it back to Deidara's room.

Deidara had fallen asleep again, but unfortunately, she needed to get the food down him while it was warm, so she gently called his name, careful not to touch him. He stirred after the third time and looked at her wearily.

"Let me prop you up," Sakura said as she reached out slowly for him, "You need to be sitting upright for this."

Deidara helped her the best he could as she moved him to a sitting position. He was doing better then yesterday, but still wasn't talking coherently much. He looked ashamed of himself and continually spaced out while she fed him.

"Deidara-kun," Sakura said as he refused the spoon of mushy oats, "Eat, you need your strength to recover."

"Don't want to," he mumbled sourly as he stared down at his lap.

Sakura set the spoon down and hopped onto the bed to sit next to him. He flinched away, but she slowly managed to get him to rest his weight on her, his head resting on her shoulder as she rubbed his back.

"Deidara, no one is going to judge you if you cry. Please. I missed you. I was worried about you. We are partners…Please don't shut me out," Sakura pleaded, feeling hot tears on her bare shoulder soon after finishing her pleading.

He began to full out cry at that time, wrapping his arms around her best he could as he shook with emotional depletion. Sakura said nothing as she cradled him, rocking him back and forth as he continued to sob.

She wanted to cry with him, telling him how she should have stayed and how she should have been there right with him, but she didn't. It wouldn't help, it wouldn't change the past. All she could do now was support him and take care of him until he recovered.

It wasn't until his breathing became even did she even attempt to feed him. The food was cold, but instead of going back to the kitchen, she used a Katon jutsu and heated it up that way.

Deidara wasn't too enthusiastic about eating, but with a little prompting, he ate every bite, even to the point that Sakura went and prepared more. Once his stomach was full, to the point that it bulged a bit against his thin frame, Sakura finally laid him to rest.

She had given him warm milk last, as a way to coax him back to sleep, which worked wonderfully. As soon as the glass was drained, Deidara was out like a light. Literally. To the point that she had to grabbed the glass so it did not shatter and alarm the blonde.

Checking over his wounds quickly, she decided he was recovering well and slipped quietly out of the room. She had yet to take a shower and get clean so that was first on her list. Soon, she was clean again and dressed into one of her frilly dresses that had grown on her sentimentally.

She was about to go get some breakfast for herself when she felt Deidara's chakra spike and a shout was heard coming from his room. She dashed in to see him thrashing about, crying out to be left alone by his invisible attacker.

Sakura knew he was having a nightmare, so she quickly rushed to his side and began to comb her fingers through his hair as she spoke gently to him.

"It's not real, only dream. You're at home now. Here with me, Sasori, Itachi, Kisame, Konan, Pein-sama, Zetsu, Kakuzu, and Hidan. No one is going to hurt you here, they'd have to get through us first. You're safe now." She chanted at him over and over until he began to calm down a bit.

She continued her chant as she rest her hand on his chest, to let her chakra flow through his body and heal the damage he had probably caused by thrashing. It was about that time that Sasori showed up in response to the chakra spike.

"Is everything alright?" Sasori asked as he looked at the blonde.

"A small panic attack, a nightmare, some crying, but he's responding to me better, so I hope that means something."

Sasori sighed as he thought about it. Deidara needed a focal point and Sakura was the best option since they would be together for a long time, but also after such a traumatic experience, it wasn't wise to leave the children alone in Konoha. It would make Sakura Deidara's whole world, which was bad if the girl ever grew to fancy another.

But it was either Deidara's mental health, which could be helped in Konoha, or his and Sakura's life, and the older Akatsuki members had already agreed on that.

"Sakura," Sasori said as he looked at the child of eleven years.

"Yes Sasori-sensei?" Sakura asked as she looked up from what she was doing.

"In a couple days time, we might have to relocate, so, I need you to pack all your belongings and favorite books that you want into a storage scroll and prepare for orders. I will do the same for Deidara since he isn't well enough to do so himself. Do you understand?"

He hadn't told her the truth. It would be better if her Aniki did so. He was always better at handling the pinkette.

"Yes sensei," Sakura said with a smile before turning her attentions back onto Deidara with undying affection for the fourteen year old.

With that, Sasori left the room to go back to what he had been doing, making one last gift for his two prized students.

* * *

Deidara had slept off and on throughout the week. Never once did Sakura leave his side longer then to get him food or take a shower. She slept next to him, ate with him, and was constantly caring for the blond boy's needs. When Sasori had discovered him awake during the first day, he told him that not even wounded brats were allowed to stink the place up with blood and lifted him out of his bed to take a bath with his mentor, Kisame.

The boy was freaking out almost the entire time, but eventually he calmed down as Kisame reminded him who he was with.

"I'm not going to hurt you," Kisame had said, "I've known you for a year and I haven't done anything outside of lessons to hurt you. Relax Goldilocks."

That somehow calmed the boy instantly, allowing Kisame to help the boy clean himself and wash his hair. After that, there were no more panic attacks when he was with those he was familiar with.

Nightmares were almost constant, causing him to wake in the middle of the night and get sick all over his sheets. Sakura never complained when he woke her up and watched her change the sheets yet again. She would usually throw a down blanket on him and wrap him up cozily on the leather couch as she changed the sheets. He fell asleep there on many occasions just watching the rosette take care of him.

By the end of the week, he was deemed movable. He wasn't suppose to walk on his own yet, but other Akatsuki members besides Sasori and Sakura could carry him without hurting him… except Hidan, but the guy was known to be reckless.

It was the end of the week when Itachi returned from wherever he had disappeared to and had gone to Deidara's room.

"What do you want, yeah?" The recovering boy said, no longer totally withdrawn not to make a snide remark to the Uchiha.

He and Itachi were on better terms, this was just how their relationship was like. He pretended to hate the guy and Itachi pretended to ignore him. Both were at terms with each other, but they just had their own way of expressing it.

"Is Sakura here?" he asked in that calm tone.

"She's in the shower." Deidara said as he glared at the big brother figure of his partner, "Is that all you came in here for, yeah?"

"Dei-chan be nice," Sakura's voice rebuked him, she just coming out of the bathroom with her hair still dripping wet.

"Get ready to leave, we will be going in an hour." Itachi said as he turned around to leave.

"Hai Aniki, but where are we headed?"

There was a long pause before the Uchiha answered.

"I'm taking you two to Konoha. Be prepared to be visited so the others can say their goodbyes."

"Konoha, yeah? Why there?" Deidara asked as he tried to get out of bed only to be pushed back down by Sakura with a scowl on her face towards his actions.

"Don't get up, you're still recovering," Sakura said rather upset before repeating the blonde's unanswered question.

"Because," Itachi said, "We don't want Madara to use you."

"Who?" Sakura asked confused.

"The true leader of Akatsuki," another voice said, as a long haired red head stood at the door with those familiar silver ringed eyes.

"Pein-sama?" Sakura asked confused as the man entered and shut the door.

"It is me, little one." Pein said with a nod, "This is my true body. I wanted to talk to you before you headed off, but my other bodies had to go talk to Madara. He is eager to come and see my progress in creating Akatsuki."

"So why are we leaving?" Deidara asked, "Wouldn't you want him to meet us?"

"No," Pein said as he shook his head, "If our motives were still the same as Madara's, then there would be no problem, but our motives have changed and he will not be amused. So we are making sure you two are safe. He knows nothing about you two and so you will be safe from his wrath when he discovers our change of heart. We are going to go along with it for a while just to prolong his chances of getting what he wants, but when the time comes, we will flee and come back to you. But for now you must go to Konoha and lived there. The Hokage has already agreed to it."

"But," Sakura said, feeling her heart dim, "We want to stay here, with all of you."

"I am sorry," Pein said as he approached her and gently rubbed his hand on her head, "But I cannot allow it. You two must stay safe."

"We can handle ourselves," Deidara tried to argue, but flinched immediately when Pein lightly touched a lock of his hair.

"You cannot even stand being touched by me, Deidara. You need to recover and Sakura needs to be kept out of Madara's hands. Can I trust you to be her partner and protect her?"

Deidara's eyes softened a bit as he nodded, "I'll protect her."

"And Sakura," Pein said as he stared at the rosette, "Will you take care of Deidara? To protect him as he protects you?"

"Hai, Pein-sama," Sakura said with a nod.

"Good," He said as he closed his eyes and laid his hands on both their heads.

Something flowed through them. It was strong and powerful but that the same time gentle and kind. Sakura could feel her connection with the others slowly sever as the ghost heartbeats vanished, only three remaining: Deidara's, Itachi's, and Pein's. It hurt a bit not to be connected the way she had been, but knew that it had to be done. Deidara's heartbeat was stronger then before. She could sense his feelings, his chakra signal, and ever little fluxation he made with it. No doubt he could feel hers as well.

He slowly pulled his hands away and sighed heavily, "I made it so your signature and heart beat are strictly limited to your partner's, Itachi's, and my signature. I must rest, Konan will be in here within the hour to present our gifts to you."

"Gifts?" Sakura said as she looked at him, "We don't need gifts Pein-sama."

"Think of it as our promise to see you again then," Pein said with a smile before walking out and disappearing into the hall.

Konan came in quietly. She watched them for a moment before making herself known.

"I got you two something," She finally said, pulling a large thing from behind her back.

It was two blankets. One with white cherry blossoms and the other a crème with beige feathers.

"I know its not much, but I wanted you two to have something to remember me by. Blankets make you feel comfort. They give you warmth. Whenever you use them, remember us, alright?"

The two of them nodded. Sakura and Deidara exchanged their goodbyes with her.

"I should see you eventually," She said with a mysterious smile on her lips, "When I see you, I'll need a favor alright?"

"Okay, Konan-san," Sakura sniffed, "Anything."

"Alright," She said straightening herself before disappearing, "Goodbye my little ones."

Hidan came in next. Apparently he had found the place they buried all his gifts. He told them not to do it again. They were protective talisman against other Jashinists and he wanted them to at least keep it in the house to prevent other Jashinists from harming them.

Kakazu came in and with his gruff way of things, gave them some precious gifts. To Sakura, he gave a dragon pendant. It was something for fancy occasions and was worn in the hair as a hair piece. To Deidara, he gave him a koneko. It had silver eyes and dark dark grey fur with pure black strips. It was tiny, but keen looking. It meowed at Deidara before clawing up to his shoulder and resting there.

"Why did you give me a cat?" Deidara asked, looking a little confused as he pulled the cat off his shoulder and away from him to inspect it, "A boy cat no less, yeah?"

"Take good care of him. He's special." Was all Kakazu said before leaving.

He was never good at goodbyes.

Zetsu came in and surprised them with Sakura's scrolls filled with all their plants. He had emptied out the greenhouse for them. Then he gave them enough money to buy land in Konoha for the new greenhouse.

Kisame came in. His face was solemn. He looked at Deidara and patted him on the head a bit, Deidara flinched but was able to not pull away.

"Hey Goldielocks, just because you going somewhere else doesn't mean your no longer my student." He said, taking the hand that was not resting on the blondes head and dropped something in his lap, "Take care kid."

Then he turned to Sakura, picked her up, giving her a bone crushing hug before setting her down, "Take care princess."

With that, he put something in her hands and left.

Deidara examined the scroll he had been given, then looked at Sakura's gift. It was the most loveliest katana made just for her estimated adult size. Kisame wouldn't know how big she would get while they were gone, but he took care of it just incase. He had made it big enough for when she was an adult.

Sasori was the last person. He paused at the door. Looking at the two with something hidden in his eye.

"I suppose this is good-bye for now." He said as he petted both on the head.

"Sasori-sensei," Sakura muttered, she couldn't look at him right at this moment.

"It will be hard, but please take care of each other and become good ninjas for Konoha." Sasori told them, "If you become Konoha shinobi, then the Hokage can protect you better. Please take care my students. I hate my time being wasted and would hate to think you two bothered to waste my precious time."

"Hai, Sasori-sensei," Both children said.

Sasori parted with them, but not before leaving them one last gift. For Sakura, it was the most gorgeous puppet she had ever seen him craft. It looked a lot like him, only a girl with long locks and red eyes like his. She was smaller then he was, but perhaps more complete than he.

"Her name is Kochou." He said before sealing her away, "There is a time seal on her, but when it is time, she will be usable."

To Deidara, he gave two pouches that were insulated.

"For that bothersome clay of yours, so it doesn't dry out as fast. Pein and I used seals to make sure that moisture would stay within the clay and make it more maleible."

"Thank you Sasori-sensei," both said, both trying hard not to look sad, just brave.

"Yes, well, thank you…" He said before he began to head out the door, "For making this old puppet feel alive again."

"We must go," Itachi said, taking their gifts- except for the kitten that had latched itself to Deidara- and put them away in the sealing scrolls, "There is no time to wait, I must get you there as soon as I can."

With that, he slung the bag of scrolls over his shoulder and gently pulled Deidara into his arms.

"Ah! Gently you jerk!" Deidara complained, not only getting clawed by the cat, but also getting his wounds jarred.

"And everyone has been telling me how quiet you've gotten. Shame, I had thought they were telling the truth," Itachi said as he continued walking with Deidara in his arms.

Sakura couldn't help but roll her eyes when Deidara told Itachi where he could shove it.

Both of them were sad to be leaving, but they were shinobi and would be strong about it. Their makeshift family was depending on them to do well and keep going. They would shame them if they gave up and laid down.

So they had to move on. Persevere and triumph.

Deidara looked down at Sakura, petting the grey black cat in his lap that was clawing at him. She looked at him, nodding. They would make it through like always. They were a team. They were partners.

As long as they had each other, they were not alone.

* * *

Ages at the end of the chapter:

Sakura-11 (Almost 12)

Deidara-14 (Almost 15)

Itachi-16 (Almost 17)

I mentioned all their ages in the stories, but, well, just incase you couldn't remember.

I know that I just changed the tide of the story. Yes, they are going to Konoha. Yes, they are going to stay there. Yes, there is a reason. It will be sad, but the other Akatsuki members won't be appearing for a while... but just think...

Now we get to see what Sasuke turned out like now that he isn't all hate and revenge like. We also get to see what happens when Sakura meets Kabuto again...

Heh Heh. Not telling you anymore, but yeah, it will be cool! (I hope)

Thankies! -_bows_- Please take care of this story!

Ja Ne

Volleys-chan


	10. Chapter 10

Greetings.

Now the story is getting somewhere. Probably not where you all thought it would head, but it is heading in the right direction against what you all think afterwards. Please do not censor what you think about this turn of evens, I like hearing from you all.

So anyways, this is the new chapter and I hope you can enjoy it.

Enjoy

* * *

_**Hummingbird**_

Chapter 10

_Returning to the Birth Land_

* * *

**Disclaimer: Do not own Naruto**

* * *

Sakura stared at the gate. It was kind of bizarre, crossing through the large gates of the place she once left. She was with Itachi too, but this time, she was not crossing them on his back, she was crossing them on her own two feet.

Deidara let out a sigh in Itachi's arms. He was so glad that they were there, she could tell. So was his kitten. It was strange that Kakazu got him a cat of all things, but knowing Kakazu, the cat was something very expensive and rare, so she wondered what it was. It was just a kitten right now, but perhaps one day it would become something grand.

No one was at the gate to patrol it, just like the night Itachi and she had left Konoha with no intention of returning. It felt a little alarming. She had left four years ago. Her birthday was in March and it was currently February. She walked along side her brother figure, walking down the familiar streets to the familiar village she had been raised in.

"It's strange…" Sakura said, "It feels as if time hasn't changed this place at all."

"Indeed it does," Itachi said with a nod.

"You're from here Sakura-hime?" Deidara questioned, this was the first he ever heard of it.

"Yes," Sakura nodded, "I left when Itachi left. I have been with Akatsuki ever since I was eight."

"That is a name you two should not mention, nor should you show your rings or coats. Hide them well, but they are yours to have. Pein is already fashioning two new ones to take the place of yours." Itachi said as they walked down the street.

Sakura could feel it when he placed the genjutsu on them.

She glanced over to see Deidara staring at her intently. It was obvious that he was puzzled why she never spoke of coming from Konoha.

"So, where are we going to live Aniki? I don't have any family here, neither does Deidara." Sakura said, answering Deidara's unspoken question with her own question.

"The Hokage will be given a large amount of money for you two to live on. Kisame and I already purchased a plot of land with a house on it. It is run down, but he figured it would give you something to do over the summer." Itachi said, they were nearing the middle of town.

"It really hasn't changed," Sakura noticed before asking another important question, "I am the only person I know with pink hair. It's something that is hard to forget. What should I say if someone recognizes me?"

"You had been adopted," Itachi started, "And taken to another village, but the village went under siege and they thought it safer here for you."

"And Deidara?"

"Another refugee that has been your friend since forever. He was taken, but then freed from the dungeons." Itachi said, "That's why he's jumpy."

"I see. Thank you Aniki." Sakura said.

"I'm not that pathetic," Deidara grumbled, "I… I mean… they weren't…"

"Now is not the time to have a breakdown, Deidara," Itachi warned him, "I know what happened, you don't have to explain it to me. It's just an alibi."

"Yeah…" Deidara nodded, taking a deep breath before closing his right eye and snuggling the cat, "I… forgot…"

Sakura patted his good leg as she walked next to Itachi, "It's okay Dei. Maybe when you're better I'll take you to my parents grave. I should visit them after being gone so long."

Deidara gave her a weak smile and nodded.

The rest of the way to the office all three were quiet. It was painful in a way. Sakura felt as if they were parting the three siblings. All of them were still young in the organization. It was sad to be pulling away from Akatsuki and have Itachi all alone in the organization without anyone in his age group, but then again, he was better at being alone then Sakura or Deidara. The two of them had come to hate it.

Itachi led them inside, leading them into the lower part of the tower and into the closed off library below. Deidara and Sakura were almost drooling at the mass amounts of scrolls down here. There, sitting at a table with only a few candles lit, was an old man in a white garb, reading. He looked up to see the three of them. Itachi dropped the jutsu.

"Aw, Itachi-chan," the old man said with a smile, "I was wondering what happened to the little girl that went missing. People said that you must have killed her. The orphanage, of course, had no record of her at all, but the children there said they had seen her there. I take it these two are who you were referring to?"

"Yes." Itachi nodded.

Sakura noticed that he held his tongue, only speaking what he had to. He hadn't done this since they first entered Akatsuki and he knew little of his surroundings.

"I see," he smiled, turning his attention to Sakura.

His face softened as he looked at her. She fumed inside when she realized that he thought her a meek little thing with no training whatsoever. Itachi had told them to keep their hite-ites put away and well hidden, but she was trained darn it!

"So what's your name, ko-chan?"

Deidara started to snigger quietly when the old man had said the 'k' word.

"I am Haruno Sakura, holder of the void ring in Akatsuki. Who the hell are you calling Ko-chan? I might be small, but I am eleven- twelve in a month." Sakura said with a huge glare on her face.

The man chuckled as he stood up, "That is quiet impressive. Now tell me, who gave you your ring then?"

"Orochimaru was cheated of it by her," Itachi replied in her stead, "Hokage-sama, I have little time to spend here with ideal chitchat."

Sakura was surprised when she looked at the man. This was the Hokage?! He looked equally shocked as he looked down at her.

"Yes, of course," he composed himself, "Let's be off to my office, but tell me, Sakura-chan, how did you cheat a Sannin out of his own possession."

Sakura looked at him smugly before turning around and peering over her shoulder, "Vanity and pride are his weaknesses."

"She stroked his ego, placed a genjutsu on another ring and switched them, then she squealed on him. He was out of there before he even knew she swapped them, yeah." Deidara said with a smug look, "She's just trying to be impressive."

"Baka!" Sakura waved her fists around, "He called me ko-chan and you tell him that!"

"Hime, you are a child," Deidara shot back.

"You are just as mature as I am!" Sakura shot back, "So if you are calling me a child then you are definitely a child!"

"I am almost fifteen," Deidara frowned, "How am I a child, yeah?"

"Child!!!" Sakura shot back.

From there, the two of them began to argue back and forth, but Itachi was use to it. This was normal. Though they were the perfect partners and best of friends, they liked to fight and argue. Deidara was a relentless tease and Sakura took everything he said with little to no tolerance. But he knew that they were just being them.

"Sakura," Itachi interrupted in a warning tone, "I have to get going. I need to finish this."

Both stopped.

"Sorry Aniki," Sakura said with a embarrassed smile.

"I'm not, yeah," Deidara stated as he lifted his hands and stuck out all three tongues.

The Hokage looked shocked, "He has a kekkei genkai?"

"Yes," Itachi said after glaring at Deidara, "But he wants to keep it quiet. He doesn't like attention and will not be using them around others, only Sakura and his team."

"I see," the Hokage nodded, pausing for a second as he realized something, "Forgive me little ones, but I forgot to introduce myself. I must be getting old. I am Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Third Hokage. You may call me Hokage or Jiji if you prefer."

"Deidara."

"Sakura."

Both said, allowing him only their names and not a nickname. He smiled, walking past them, beckoning them to follow. Itachi did it wordlessly, Sakura following after. She could feel the genjutsu being placed on them again. He led them upstairs to his office and pulled out a couple papers from a large stack. Itachi set Deidara down on the couch that was hidden next to the door. He had been carrying him for so long Sakura could tell he was glad to put the blonde down. Deidara was not light. He was heavy with muscle and all the weapons and clay he kept on him, not to mention the bandages.

"Here we are," Sarutobi said as he handed Sakura a couple papers as well as Deidara.

"This will allow anyone titled Hokage as your legal guardian until the age of eighteen. We handle your finances until Deidara hits the age of eighteen. You will have free access to it, but will be monitored in your spending until then. This is also the paperwork to entering the Academy next semester."

"WHAT!?" both Deidara and Sakura yelled as they looked at him panicked.

"But we are already ninja!" Sakura protested, "Why do we have to go to the Academy when we've been shinobi for over two years! I've been one since I was nine!"

"I was one at eleven!" Deidara added his two cents in too.

"I'm sorry, but you will have to participate. It is good for you two to have friends and allies in your age group."

"I'm not going if I have to be with a bunch of preteen brats, yeah," Deidara pouted, "I'll be fifteen by then! Everyone usually graduates at the age of twelve or thirteen!"

"I have worked with people of higher brain functions for four years now," Sakura complained, "You're sending me back to the stupid farm!?"

"You're both going to join," Itachi said with a tone of finality, "It will be best if you foster friendships and have allies. If it is ever discovered that you two were once with us, you will need people to back you up."

There was no arguing with Itachi, both of them knew that. His authority was higher than theirs in the organization. Hidan was the only one they didn't really listen to. The idiot.

They filled out the paperwork and handed it back. Sandaime looked over them before nodding and filing them away.

"Alright, you two are officially under the care of Konoha as citizens, welcome to Konoha." He said with a kind grandfatherly grin, "Itachi, you may go, I will take them to the place you have purchased for them."

"Hai," Itachi nodded, looking one last time at the two before nodding at them and disappearing in a swirl of ash, such was his way of doing things.

Sakura couldn't help but feel a little sad that he was gone. She could tell by their connection that Deidara was sad to see him go to. It made everything feel more…

Final.

"Well," Sarutobi said as he gently approached Deidara, pretending not to notice him flinch as he picked the blonde up, "It's late and I am guessing you want to see your new home."

"Yes, please," Sakura nodded, staring at the spot that Itachi had been standing in before turning towards the Sandaime, "We just want to go to bed."

The old man nodded, he could tell both were tried and the little kitten that was wiggling in Deidara's hold was restless to be set down. He must have been holding the cat the whole trip other then when it needed to use the litter box. He led her to the house. It was more like a large run down apartment building that only had one neighboring building adjacent to it.

"Over there is the apartment building that two of your future classmates live in. One had used his funds to purchase the deed and he and the other are the only ones that live there." Sarutobi explained, "They are orphans, so they might get a little curious about the new occupants of this place."

Neither of them said anything, so he continued on, walking to the door and pulling out a key, unlocking the door.

"The house is worn down and the furniture needs to be replaced, but they said that you two were innovative and it would be a welcomed challenge." He explained.

He was right. The place looked run down. The house itself was still sturdy, just battered. With a little TLC, they could have it looking nice again.

He set Deidara down on the couch.

"I'll be going if there is nothing else I can do for you," he paused. Neither of them said anything.

Sakura was holding the bag that Itachi had been carrying and Deidara finally set the poor kitten down and it was now scampering about the house, exploring and hoping to find a mouse or rat to kill.

He tried not to look as awkward as he felt. These children were just staring at him, ready for him to leave them alone.

"I will check up on you at the end of week. My men will be keeping an eye on you, but other then that, enjoy your residence here." He bowed out and shut the door, leaving the key on the broken table near the door.

Both waited before anything was said.

"This bites." Deidara sighed, "I would rather be back with everyone else."

"I know this stinks, but you are in no condition to be a wanted criminal… and Madara must be dangerous if they don't want him getting his hand on us."

"You're right, yeah. But it still feels as if they are trying to get rid of us."

"Deidara." Sakura stated as she looked at him with a sad look, "They did get rid of us."

"But for the right reasons," he agreed.

"But it still hurts," she whispered.

"I know… Let's get some rest. Tomorrow is going to be a long day and I for one am ready to get up," Deidara told her, grunting as he pulled himself up, "Being held has made me stiff, yeah."

Sakura didn't jump up and tell him to lay back down. He was recovered enough during the trip to start walking again, but he couldn't overdo it, which was why Itachi had still carried him. It was nice to see him up on his own again. He hobbled towards her, snagging the bag and taking it further into the room to begin unpacking what he needed for the night.

A large futon with his sheets, two sets of pjs, and two really comfortable pillows, and their gifted blankets later, the two were sleeping lightly with the cat curled between them.

Sakura still woke and soothed Deidara with his nightmares, but he had finally stopped emptying his stomach on the more terrible dreams. The cat would also wake and stroke his master with his tail before drifting off again.

Sakura sighed as she closed her eyes again. She really didn't want to be here. She felt almost like she was abandoned, but she knew it was for the best. Pein and the others would only worry if they remained there and it would hinder them. They knew the two were capable and would be able to handle themselves, but Sakura couldn't help but feel lonely.

* * *

Sakura wiped her face as she looked up from her rag. She had just finished washing the walls down in the first apartment flat. The house had been an apartment building with a least eight basic flats. This one was the master flat where the richest renter would live. Deidara was already preparing to blow some walls down and was designing a stair case to the next story and the third floor as well so they didn't have to go outside for everything. The top room was a just one flat, where the owners would live no doubt.

"Deidara, how are you holding up?" She called over to the room he was.

She heard him grumbling loud, angry curses as he came into the room, limping on his bad leg. It was still in a cast, it would be coming off in another week.

"It's fine. I think we should find the support beams and break down the rest of the walls and rebuild from there." Deidara grumbled, "Unless you want to be repetitive and have eight kitchens, eight bathrooms, and eight living rooms, yeah."

"Draw up some designs and I'll hire some carpenters to build it so." Sakura said as she wrung the rag over the bucket tightly, "Until then, we need a place to stay, so this area works fine."

"Why are you wearing that?" Deidara questioned her.

She wasn't wearing her normal dresses. She was wearing an old pair of hand-me-downs that he had gotten from Itachi, rolling up the bottoms and wearing suspenders to hold them up on her thin frame. Her shirt was one of his ratty button up shirts and she even had a black ribbon in her hair pulling her fringes into one of those bumps on top of her head.

"I don't want to get my dresses dirty," was her reply, but he knew better then to believe her.

She was avoiding eye contact, so it meant she wasn't willing to talk about it yet.

The grey black kitten came running into the room with a mouse in its jaws, dropping it at Deidara's feet before barreling out of the room again.

Deidara sighed as he picked up the mouse with his good hand, "At least he can kill the pests, yeah."

"What do we call him?" Sakura questioned, looking at the mouse without any fear, actually she took it and sealed it away from practice later.

"He's a quiet one. Fidgets like crazy but he's as quiet as a whisper, yeah." Deidara said as he stared at the door he assumed the cat was in.

"Then Teisei?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah. Teisei is a good name for that cat. He is a whisper." Deidara nodded before laying on the futon they had left in the middle of the room, "What a curious cat, yeah…"

With that, he was out. Sakura didn't blame him. He was pushing himself. He was still recovering and needed more time. He was good with her because of how much time she spent with him and he was good with the cat if only because he had carried him the whole time and became at ease with the fuzzy thing.

Sakura continued to scrub, she needed something to do and she wasn't ready to venture out into Konoha during broad daylight. She wasn't ready to be recognized just yet. So she would only venture out when she had to.

* * *

The Sandaime looked at the blueprints with a surprised expression. They were drawn beautifully and looked professional.

"So you want to hire carpenters to turn it into this?" Sarutobi asked, making sure that he had gotten it correct.

"Yes," Sakura nodded, "we don't need eight doors into one house and we don't need eight kitchens either. We have all the details written down so just get them to make it just so."

"Alright," Sarutobi nodded, rolling up the scroll, "I will have a team on it in the morning. Until then, how is everything? Have you met your neighbors yet?"

Sakura's eyes narrowed. She and Deidara had been there for one week now, a hellish week at that, but they hadn't bothered to make it seem as though they lived there yet. They could make it seem that it was still unoccupied and did so without hesitation. They weren't ready for other people yet.

Deidara had stayed behind in the house. He didn't like other people too much at the moment and couldn't take the crowds that would carelessly bump and toss him about. He was currently taking up a no touching rule. Everyone other than Sakura and his cat, Teisei, made him flinch.

"No, but after the carpenters do their job there will be no question about it," Sakura said with a shrug.

"What are you going to do while you are waiting for the construction to be done, they won't let you stay there most likely if they are working on it." Sarutobi said, lifting an eyebrow.

"We'll find refuge somewhere," Sakura shrugged, "We aren't tenderfoots, we can find a place to stay for a while. It is nothing too exciting."

"You may stay at my estate," Sarutobi offered, "My wife would love to have some children about the house again. There are few people there and Deidara can walk about without having prying eyes on him."

Sakura cursed inside. The old man knew more than she had originally thought, but, she mused gratefully, he knew when to keep his mouth shut and not mention such things as unhealed wounds.

"How much do you know?" A single brow rose as she looked at him with a sharp questioning glare.

"He was tortured by Iwa. It is a hard thing to get over some of their techniques, but I know it is possible with time and patience, but he also must work for that goal. He will need to slowly reenter society and it would be best with peers of his age."

"Dei-kun doesn't handle people his age too well, never had anyone around that age to play with."

"And you had people too old to play surround you," Sarutobi countered, "So both of you need to learn to be around your peers."

Sakura sighed, so that was why they had to go to the Academy. He wanted them to be able to act properly with others.

"Itachi didn't have to," She pouted, trying her last ditch effort to get out of this.

"I failed Itachi," the Sandaime shook his head, "I will not fail another child again. Never. You are going to the Academy when it opens for next semester."

"Fine," Sakura bit out.

"So shall I expect you two for early breakfast?"

"Yeah," Sakura sighed, turning and walking away, vanishing into the night even with her pink locks of hair and white shirt.

Sarutobi had been curious about her outfit since he was told that she only wore dresses and kimonos. She had been wearing slacks several sizes too big and suspenders. Something must have stirred within her whenever she wore her dresses, so she was avoiding it.

These kids needed help and he was going to have to keep a close eye on them to make sure they got it.

* * *

The next couple of months went in a flash. Sakura and Deidara both had their birthdays come and gone. The two of them had gotten use to the idea of living in Konoha. The Hokage had given them refuge while their home was being repaired. In his opinion, it had helped him foster a friendship with the two children. They were more willing to be open with him than before, when they tiptoed around him like stray cats that had just found a master.

Sakura had opened up greatly once he showed her the library. She would spend her time on the floor reading as the scrolls sprawled out all around her. She would allow him after that to hold conversations with her to see how smart of a child she was. She was extremely sweet when she felt closer to him.

But, imagine his shocking surprise when he looked over her shoulder to see her working on a very complex thesis about the human heart. What scared him more was that she was writing it.

She would get up and go through a routine each day, part of it was checking on Deidara and making sure he was eating and handling things well.

Deidara was the more skittish one. He didn't like venturing too far from her, but he was also one for reading in the library. He always had his fringes covering his left eye, making the older man wonder what he hid under it. Sarutobi was much more cautious when approaching the blonde at first, but Deidara eventually became use to the old man that was trying to befriend him.

Sakura had taken off his cast and bandages during their stay and he began to slowly pick up his training schedule. By the end of their stay, he was working on some of the most brutal training conditions that Sarutobi had ever seen for a child his age. He was very dedicated for a teen, getting up at the crack of dawn and going through a schedule that would make most genin shiver in fear. He would always be doing something, whether training physically or mentally. There was only one day that he would take a break, resting his mind and body and then return to his work. His cat never left his side much.

Deidara, as Sarutobi observed, would teach the cat on his off days. It was a marvelous little thing with silver metallic eyes, it observing everything with a keen eye. He responded well to Deidara's words. Teisei, what he learned was the cat's name, also gave Sakura all of the rodents that were on the Sarutobi estate.

His wife thought both of them as darlings, spoiling both of them as often as she could. He could tell it did them well to have her affection, since Deidara easily opened up to her as well as Sakura, who seemed shy of most females. He figured there was either one or no other females in Akatsuki because of her shy behavior towards his wife.

"Those two are the sweetest little cherubim I have ever met," she had told him after Sakura and Deidara thanked her warmly for her cookies.

Sarutobi never mentioned how they always inspected the food first before eating it though. It wouldn't do to get his wife upset over them being suspicious about her actions.

He was sad to see them go, though. When the building was done, they had returned to their own household. He had grown use to having children in his estate again. Three weeks had gone by when it was officially completed, so he had grown attached to them. He knew he couldn't play favorites, just like he couldn't favor Naruto or Sasuke, but he really wished to take care of them.

Sakura was an amazing little girl. He almost wished Tsunade would come back just so she could met her and take her under her wing, but then, he would lose the little pink cherry blossom's affections to his own student. He wanted to keep that if only a bit longer.

He blessed whatever spirit was on his side when Sakura and Deidara came for visits. It was always an all day event, since Sakura refused to be out and about when others were up and Deidara got terribly ill if he was jostled by crowds, having mini flashbacks to his torture. He was recovering well, but he wasn't expected to get over it in a night. He had been manhandled by the crowds on the street only once, but he had to lie down of most of the visit.

His wife had given him some ginger ale and Sakura petted his hair as he rested in her lap, waiting for his stomach to settle and his nerves to relax.

It was during one of their visits that Sarutobi finally had an opportunity to introduce the two to the other orphans that lived across the way to them.

It wasn't the way he would have had it, but it worked nonetheless. Sarutobi had been working at his office that day, trying to finish quickly so that he could foster his friendship with the two ex-Akatsuki members when his ANBU came in and informed him that Sasuke and Naruto had been in a fight yet again.

The Sandaime sighed as he nodded. He was almost about to leave and now he had to deal with the two.

"They took quite a beating," Cat said with a sad tone to her voice, "Perhaps you should get them to a medic. Naruto's arm looked disfigured and Sasuke seems to have his nose busted. It won't clot."

A sudden idea came to Sarutobi's mind, "Send them to my estate, I should be there by then and I'll see what I can do for them."

* * *

Now Naruto had been use to getting in trouble, hell, trouble was probably his middle name- that or trickster. He use to be alone until he met Sasuke. Sasuke had his back ever since four years ago shortly after his brother had killed everyone in his family. He wasn't the greatest of best friends- having a whole lot of problems himself- but the two of them had stuck together.

Sasuke had purchased the run down apartment building Naruto lived in and together, along with some help from the Third, they had gotten the place looking nice. It wasn't an apartment building anymore, but was more of a house.

Naruto and Sasuke were the extreme neat freaks since they felt need of control over something. Naruto was much pickier then Sasuke about things though since he had been on his own longer. Sasuke cooked better than Naruto, but neither could make anything better then a really basic meal.

Sasuke was stoic, quiet, dark looking with an air of mystery that made all the girls squeal, but Naruto knew he was really kind and considerate in his own way once he dragged the guy away from the crowds. He only looked arrogant in front of people that were not Naruto. He dropped his guard around his friends- which currently Naruto was the only real one he had.

"Man, we are in trouble now," Naruto muttered over to him as they were being taken to the estate, "Jiji never makes us go to his estate unless we really mess up. This is all your fault teme."

He still called him the name he had dubbed him when they were eight, but he said it in a kinder, brotherly manner.

"Shut up, dobe, I'll try to get us out of it, just give me time to think." Sasuke told him under his breath.

"How? You're nose won't stop bleeding and no one is going to take you seriously with your hand over your nose like that, dattebayo."

"Hn."

"Now I know we are screwed." Naruto sighed, "The Uchiha has the speech abilities of a rock!"

Sasuke would have fought back, but they were interrupted by the Hokage, who cleared his throat. He was standing on his estate's front porch.

"Boys," He said with a shake of his head, "I would ask you how you got the way you did, but my ANBU already informed me. Come along, let's see if we can't get you two patched up and fed."

Sasuke looked at Naruto who exchanged with him a bewildered look. The blonde would have kept his seriously surprised look, but Sasuke looked silly holding his nose to keep it from bleeding. Sasuke glared at him as he laughed.

"Come on boys," Sarutobi said again, opening the door and waiting for them to enter, "I need to go get that assistance for you two."

Naruto and Sasuke nodded, entering the building and following the old man to the kitchen to see his sweet wife cooking up something that smelt divine (to Naruto anyway, Sasuke had a nose full of blood) .

"Oh, boys!" She said when she turned around and saw them, "What in heaven's name happened?"

They had no time to tell her before she told them to sit and left the room with haste.

"I don't see why you are asking me, yeah," the two heard a moment later, "I'm not about to get blood all over me."

"Please have a look at them till I find her, I know you have some training, I've seen you. Now I will be back as soon as I can."

The heard an audible sigh before a blonde, that was clearly older and taller than them, come into the room.

"What I won't do for her cookies," he groaned to himself as he looked at the two.

He instantly recognized the brotherly similarity that Sasuke had with Itachi.

"Great, an Uchiha."

"Hn," Sasuke grunted at him.

"Great," the blonde muttered to himself, "He has the same vocabulary too, yeah."

Naruto had heard it, but he knew that Sasuke hadn't. His ears were more sensitive then most.

"Who are you?" Naruto asked once the blonde got closer.

He gave Naruto a small glare with only one eye visible in that mass amount of silky hair he had. Naruto could tell it was a boy because of his voice and slightly more angular features.

"Deidara, now which one of you is worse off."

"Naruto." Sasuke said pointing at the blond next to him.

"Alright, then I'll see what I can do for you." Deidara said as he inspected Sasuke's nose for a second.

"You broke it, yeah." He said.

Naruto could see him hesitate before he reached up and with a sickening crack put Sasuke's nose back where it should have been. Sasuke had reared back and let out a pained yelp of surprise when the older blonde had done so.

"What did you do that for!" Sasuke yelled, his eyes burning with anger.

"Did you want to lose all your blood through your nose?" Deidara asked, raising a brow, "It was either I fixed it now or hime come fix it when they find her. No doubt she's hiding and forcing me to do a butcher job when she can do it better, yeah."

Naruto or Sasuke was about to ask, but Sarutobi-baa came back happily with a little girl around their age in her grasps.

"She was somewhere in the library," She exclaimed happily.

The girl didn't look to happy. She had familiar pink hair. Her bangs tied on top of her head with a ribbon and puffed up a bit with criss-cross bobby pins pulling the loose hairs out of her face. She was wearing a knee high black skirt with suspenders, black leg warmers, and a button up white blouse.

"What's up that I was needed. I was in the middle of writing the last segment of my thesis." She said in a low tone, glaring at the blonde, "Couldn't you handle this Dei?"

"He's got a mangled arm and I just popped his nose back in place. No. I can't handle it as well as you can. I was taught how to fix a scratch or stop the bleeding or hemorrhaging, not how to fix arms or broken noses, yeah."

The girl rolled her emerald eyes before approaching the two boys. She didn't talk to them, she just looked at Sasuke, quickly fixed the rest of his nose, scanned him for any other major wounds, then turned to Naruto and pulled his bone fragments where they should be and mended them back together without saying a word. His other wounds, to her surprise, had already mended themselves and were almost finished healing.

"I'll be in the library," She said before turning around and walking away.

Not once did she talk to the two dumbfounded boys who just stared at the little girl who had healed with wounds.

"I'll be grabbing those cookies, then I will be off too, yeah." Deidara said before getting up, washing his hands of any blood, then snagging a couple cookies and walking out too.

"Those two," the Sandaime sighed, "they are so unsocial."

"Give them time, they will warm up," His wife encouraged him, "Plus, they are staying for dinner, that means that they will have to be pleasant. It is in their nature to be social like at dinner time."

With that, she herded Sasuke and Naruto to a bathroom to clean up so they could help her make dinner. Neither boy dared say no to the only woman who even the Hokage didn't even dare cross.

* * *

Ages at the end of the chapter:

Sakura-11 (Almost 12)

Deidara-14 (Almost 15)

Naruto- 11 (12 in October)

Sasuke- 11 (12 in the summer)

I mentioned all their ages in the stories, but, well, just incase you couldn't remember.

I know that I just changed the tide of the story. Yes, they are going to Konoha. Yes, they are going to stay there. Yes, there is a reason. It will be sad, but the other Akatsuki members won't be appearing for a while... but just think...

Yeah. I know I didn't do the greatest job elating Sasuke's new behavior, but it will be explained later in the story. Basically, he took his brother's words to heart. The way Itachi had left him, he just couldn't learn to hate his brother (Remember, he put him under a genjutsu that replayed all the memories that Itachi had of him and Sasuke. and the whole Eyes unclouded by hate thing too. He's still quiet and darker than Naruto, but not hateful. Kinda like all those non-massacre stories. Same Sasuke before he went crazy with revenge!)

Thankies! -_bows_- Please take care of this story!

Ja Ne

Volleys-chan


	11. Chapter 11

Greetings.

Now you get to know Naruto and Sasuke if only minutely better then before. Sasuke will be distant at first, but he is not shut out like the canon's version of him. He's just quiet and shy. Please do not censor what you think about this turn of evens, I like hearing from you all.

So anyways, this is the new chapter and I hope you can enjoy it.

Enjoy

* * *

_**Hummingbird**_

Chapter 11

Reconnecting

* * *

**Disclaimer: Do not own Naruto**

* * *

Sasuke was trying hard to place her. He had seen that pink somewhere before and it was bothering the hell out of him now that she was sitting across the table from him eating quietly with the blonde, who had this weirdest name and funniest accent he had heard to date, right next to her playing with a freaking cat that stared at him curiously with freaky silver eyes.

He had seen her somewhere… but where? He couldn't figure it out, but both he and Naruto had recognized her, but neither of them could place her… Not yet.

_'It shouldn't be this hard!_' He thought to himself as he tried to stare up at her through his lashes so it didn't seem so obvious he was staring.

"Stop staring at me," She finally said, turning those jade eyes on him with a steel cold nature to them, "I don't like being stared at while I eat, both of you."

Both Sasuke and Naruto turned away, embarrassed by being caught.

"Why don't you just ask your question instead of trying to preserve your pathetic pride? I might give you an answer," She told them with a huff, going back to eating her food.

Deidara and the elder Sarutobis hid their amusement the best they could. Teisei just watched with curiosity to what his master's partner would do next to these strange smelling humans.

"Er…" Naruto said as he smiled at her pathetically as he rubbed the back of his head, "Who are you? I know I've seen your color of hair, so I know we have met. It's kinda embarrassing that I might have forgotten such a pretty face, dattebayo."

"Haruno Sakura," She said calmly, taking another bit of her meal, "And you are Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke."

"Sakura?!? You mean the little pink haired girl who hid behind Ino?" Naruto yelled as Sasuke choked on the food he had been eating.

"Yes," She nodded, "that was me."

"You hid behind a girl? You were _shy_?" Deidara said with a huge teasing grin, "Oh why oh why was I not told this, yeah? Sakura-hime a little scardy cat!"

"I'll show you scardy cat!" Sakura yelled as she turned an angry glare on him, "You can _walk_ home by yourself tonight, you jerk."

"Fine! I will!" He yelled back, his own temper rising to match hers, "Next time you get all huffy about walking alone in the streets, forget about me coming along, yeah! I wouldn't do it for a squirt like you!"

"Oh! Calling me short! I'll show you short when I knock that block off your shoulders!"

"You'd still be shorter!" He shot back slyly.

"You looking for a fight?!" She yelled, her jade eyes dancing with anger as she stood up, slamming her hands onto the table.

"Maybe I am," Deidara said as he too stood up.

"Children! Children!" Sarutobi chided them, "Act your age and level of profession. I will not have you acting like little toddlers fighting over something so trivial as what one was like as a little child. Now sit back down and eat. Sakura, you will walk home with Deidara, and Deidara, you will go with Sakura when she requests it of you. Stop acting like you hate each other."

"Yes, Sarutobi-jiji," both said as they calmly sat back down and began to eat again.

"Man, and I thought me and teme had problems getting along sometimes!" Naruto laughed as he pointed at the two.

"Shut up, dobe," Sasuke muttered, before turning back to the original subject, "So you were Ino's little friend? The one rumored to have been eaten by the killer of the Uchiha clan, Uchiha Itachi?"

Sakura had been taking a sip of her tea at that time, but the moment she heard that, she spit it out in shock, spraying it all over Sasuke.

"What!? No! I wasn't _eaten_ by anyone. I was adopted and taken to a new village. The orphanage was so pack at the time that they probably lost the records!" Sakura squeaked indignantly, "Who the _hell_ spread a rumor like that? Are they nuts?"

Deidara was holding his gut as he laughed at the scene that had taken place and the look of disgust on Sasuke's face. Naruto wasn't hiding his amusement either as he rolled on the ground with laugher, pointing to Sasuke's face.

"I see…" Sasuke muttered, wiping his face dry of tea.

Deidara looked amused at it all, but kept his mouth shut as Sakura fumed. She was so much fun to get all wiry like this and the best part was he wasn't going to get in trouble cause he didn't do it. He placed another spoonful of food in his mouth, chewing it slowly as he smirked happily.

Naruto decided to change tactics and get off the subject of Itachi, "So… why do you cover up your eye? Are you trying to look like Ino? Cause she does the same thing. Except I think her hair is shorter then yours though."

Deidara choked on his food.

"WHAT!?" He managed to shout as he tried to breath.

It was Sakura's turn to look amused.

"Uh, yeah," Naruto said with a nervous look, "She's a blonde too, but it is much lighter and she had blue eyes. You could be her older brother if you put your hair in a high ponytail and kept your bangs like that."

Sakura began gasping for air as she struggled to stop laughing. Deidara was still coughing from choking, and was trying hard not to curse.

"That's great," Sakura muttered as she wiped a invisible tear from her eye.

"Shut up, yeah," Deidara grumbled as he took another spoonful and shoved it in his mouth and chewed quickly.

"So… you never answered the question." Naruto said, looking at him with curiosity.

Sarutobi was interested as well, leave it to Naruto to ask the impolite question they all have been wondering.

"Its there to hide my eye," Deidara finally said grudgingly, "Not to look like a _girl_."

"Though you kinda do look like Ino," Sakura chuckled.

"Shut it pint size," He growled at her, "I'm just glad I wasn't predicted to be a whopping five feet as a full grown adult, yeah."

"At least I look like the gender I should be," Sakura said back in a sickly sweet tone.

"Way to go dobe," Sasuke whispered angrily, "Now their even louder than before."

"I was just curious," Naruto whined back.

"Just show them your eye, Dei, then all the questions will go away." Sakura said.

Deidara rolled his eyes, before closing his them and tucking his fringes behind his ear. He opened them again and listened as everyone other then Sakura gasp.

"How did that happen, dear?" Sarutobi-baa asked, looking at him with worry.

"Jashinist. Nasty religion, yeah. I'm just lucky the ritual ended differently than the Jashinist wanted." Deidara said, leaving his eye unveiled as he ate, it was easier now that he didn't have his hair getting in the way.

"Jashinist? What's that?" Naruto asked, cocking his head to the side.

"Immortal humans that stay immortal by sacrificing humans to their god, Jashin-sama. Deidara is making it sound worse than it is," Sakura said, rolling her eyes, "He didn't die. He also didn't mention that he can still see out of it just fine."

That got them back into a little spat, but what Naruto and Sasuke noticed it was like them and how they just egged each other on. They were probably very close friends.

By the time dinner was over, it was very late. Dark enough that Sakura was willing to leave now that the crowds had vanished and there was hardly a soul outside.

"Well, I guess it is time to say goodbye," Sarutobi said as he walked with them to the door.

"Yes, Deidara and I are somewhat busy with making the house just so, and researching the cat. Apparently there is something more to this kitten then we thought." Sakura said with a shrug, "So we will be seeing you Sarutobi-jiji."

"I see," Sarutobi nodded, "And you boys are leaving too?"

"Yeah, its dark outside and that means less crowds and less creepy fan girls chasing down teme," Naruto said with a grin, playing with his goggles on his head, "See you later old man!"

"Alright, perhaps you four would like to walk home together," Sarutobi said with a sly smile, "After all, you four are neighbors."

"Wait," Sasuke paused, "You mean you two are the people who moved into the old beat up apartment behind us?"

"You two are the two orphans that live in the other old apartment building?" Sakura shot back.

"This is great!" Naruto shouted happily, "Now we can all be friends!"

Deidara and Sakura looked at each other before casting the two boys an unsure look, "Yeah… sure…."

"Well, Teisei," Deidara said as he let the cat crawl onto his shoulder, "It looks like your hunting ground just expanded to another lot, yeah."

The cat purred in delight. He was the only one thrilled other than Naruto.

* * *

The summer passed in an odd sort of way. Some days went fast, other days dragged on. To Sakura's annoyance, Naruto had been determined when he had stated that they were going to be friends. Almost everyday the kid showed up, disrupting their schedules and usually got a good lashing of the tongue for bothering them. Deidara had learned to leave very early for the woods and not come out till he was done with his training.

Sakura couldn't figure it out and it was bothering her. He would come everyday in that usual annoying hyper mood. It drove her nuts! She was trying to finish her thesis for crying out loud and he was disrupting her.

Sasuke showed up on some days too, but usually he never stayed long, only long enough to drag Naruto away.

But then there were good times with them too, like when they had invited them to join them to go swimming in 'Teme's family's private lake that is off limits to everyone but who teme invites'. Deidara was actually really excited, the forest area behind their house was nice, but lacked something to swim in. He knew there was a swimming hole somewhere in town, but wasn't ready to face a lot of people just yet.

That day had been great. Naruto was splashing about in the water, Deidara was doing his laps, Sasuke was off trying to train in one area of the lake, leaving Sakura a day to just sit outside and soak up the sun and read one of her scrolls without hindrance.

Teisei was curled up close to her, refusing to follow his master into the wet water.

The only real comment was when Naruto was getting worried over Deidara.

"He's been gone for a very long time now," He noted as he looked around for her partner, "Is he alright?"

Sakura paused for a second, paying attention to his heart beat and nodded, "He's fine. He just has a very peculiar training schedule that he refuses to break. He could swim something this size easily."

It seemed to be a good enough answer for Naruto.

After that day, Sasuke allowed Deidara access to the lake for all his swimming wants. Deidara was grateful.

Their house had finally been put together. There had been a fourth floor added, which was a greenhouse. They had taken the time to put all their plants that they were taking care of in it or the greenhouse that was connected to the first and second floor at the end of the building. It was an add on.

On the opposite side of the house on the third floor was a balcony like add on that was covered by one way windows. It was apart of the inside part of the house and Deidara's bed as put snuggly in the nook. He liked waking up to sunshine- something he rarely got in Ame. The glass was covered in seals that he had written that made sure that they were unbreakable. So as long as the seal remained, the widows were impossible not only to break, but also to recognize as windows.

The whole third floor was Deidara's room since he had so many books and projects that he was always doing. There was only one wall that separated the stair well and a bathroom that connected to his room and that was it.

The second floor had several rooms including Sakura's. She preferred studying in the library and had that on the same floor and easy access to her greenhouse and a little medic lab to work in instead of just in her room. There was a guest bedroom or two and at least two nice bathrooms.

The first floor had a large kitchen common room combo that allowed them to relax easily and a room filled with knickknacks that didn't have a spot in the other rooms. Most it was a storage room and held the nonperishable foods in it. And a dojo area for days that Deidara wouldn't risk venturing outside for due to bad weather.

Unlike normal civilian schools, summer vacation didn't last long. They wanted to make sure that the students didn't goof off and shirk their training. So, unfortunately for Sakura who was dreading the very thought of the Academy, the new semester came too quickly.

What made things even worse was she was assigned back to her old class. Her heart literally wanted to drop at the very idea of having to face those girls again. The only good thing about half those girls that had been in her class was when they had left her crying all night till Itachi had come and spirited her away. That was the only good thing about any of those girls.

Sakura readied herself that terrible day with the essentials for school, wearing her favorite stolen slacks that were way too big for her- though she had mended them to finally fit her- suspenders and a button up shirt that had once been Deidara's when he was smaller. She tied a single thin black ribbon in her bob cut hair and headed to the Academy.

She didn't bother trying to convince Deidara to go, she knew he would get sick to the stomach because of the crowded room of kids. She didn't need him have a breakdown after all the progress he had made. It would be backtracking. She would let him go at his own pace of things.

She made a lunch for herself and Deidara, leaving his in the fridge, before heading out. It was later in the day than when she usually left the house, but it didn't matter, she just wanted today to be over with.

"Hey! Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled over to her from his and Sasuke's place, "Are you heading to the Academy? Do you want to walk with us?"

Sakura smiled at him but shook her head no, "I don't feel ready for this yet, I need to go at my own pace."

Sasuke seemed to understand, dragging Naruto off as they headed to the Academy. Sakura smiled lightly, at least two people wouldn't bother her there.

She walked slowly, not too eager to get there, but didn't want to get there too late and have all eyes on her. She got there in no time and quietly entered the hallways of the Academy, slipping by the kids running about outside. She wandered the halls, musing how they never changed.

She was in Iruka and Mizuki's class again. She didn't have to look too far, she had memorized the route as a young eight year old with her photographic memory. She walked into the room, peering in quickly and scanning the room.

Hyuuga Hinata was sitting in the back row already as well as Nara Shikamaru dosing lightly in his spot. She could remember all their names and faces even though four years had passed. Aburame Shino was looking at her already with an interested look, well for one of his silent, reserved type. She turned her eyes to Iruka-sensei. Same old Iruka with the scar across his nose and Mizuki no where to be found till class was in session.

It was almost as if she hadn't left.

It was then that Iruka noticed her.

"Oh, hello, are you the one of the transfer students?" he asked having a gentle smile on his face so he didn't scare her.

"Yes." She nodded, entering the room once she was sure it was secure, "If you are going to ask about the other one, he won't be in today. He doesn't like crowds and the Academy is a little too much for him as of right now."

She gave no more then she had to about Deidara. Just enough so that people didn't start rumors about him like they had her.

"I see," he nodded, "It seems you know him. Would it be alright if I give you his homework then? I don't want him to fall behind."

"He won't," Sakura said as she shook her head, "But I will take it anyways."

"Alright," he smiled again, "Then go take a seat. There is currently only one open right next to Hinata-san." He paused as he pointed up to Hinata, "Hinata, please raise your hand."

"H-Hai," She said, lifting her hand up a little.

"Thank you," Sakura said, poising herself upright before bowing gracefully.

She didn't say another word as she climbed the stairs to sit next to the pearl eyed girl.

"I-I remember you," Hinata whispered to her, wringing her hands in her lap, "You… You were the g-girl that disappeared… Haruno Sakura… right?"

Sakura looked at her with a calm expression before nodding and turning her head back to the front.

"W-Welcome back," she said, forcing a smile on her face, trying hard not to look scared.

Sakura stared at her a moment longer before gently taking her hands and swiftly grabbing Hinata's face, pitching her cheeks before letting go and gently patting both sides of her face with open palms.

"Don't force a smile, its not cute. Smile when your happy," Sakura said before turning back around.

It was something her mother use to do to her when she wasn't being truthful to herself and pretending something was okay. She didn't know why she had done it to Hinata, a girl she hardly knew, but she couldn't stand such a forced smile. If she was going to sit next to her for the rest of the year, she was _not_ going to put up with that.

"H-hai…" Hinata said, her eyes wide and looking quite shocked as she rubbed one of her cheeks.

"Good girl," Sakura whispered, then set her rested her head in her arms that were on the table, "Tell me when its over."

And with that, she closed her eyes and began to review what she had been working on earlier in her head, waiting till the hell was over.

Hinata looked at the girl sitting next to her. She certainly wasn't as shy as she had remembered her being. She seemed different, distant. She was like a star that was beautiful but almost unattainable, not interested in what had been offered around her.

She sighed. That was how she was suppose to look as the next Hyuuga heiress. She watched as Iruka prepped for class. Sasuke came in later, sitting down after he looked around. He noticed Sakura, Hinata noted, then went to his own seat and relaxed while the other girls were no doubt looking for him outside.

Naruto was next to come in and he was being his wonderful happy self. He looked her way, causing her to blush, but apparently he was looking at Sakura. He would have called to her, but Sasuke stopped him, shaking his head and motioning the blonde to sit next to him before the girls tried to sit next to him.

Slowly other people in the class came in. Kiba and Akamaru noticed her as well. Hinata could swear Kiba muttered something about a cat. Chouji noticed her, but politely sat down and didn't bother her. That was the last of the people that paid her any special attention. All the other girls came in and fawned over the Uchiha.

"So loud," Sakura muttered next to her, "How is anyone suppose to think with that?"

"Y-You get use to it," Hinata whispered back.

"This sucks," she muttered as she opened up her jade eyes, staring out into space as she heaved a sigh, "All I wanted was what I had and now I have to deal with something I never asked for."

"L-life is c-cruel that way," Hinata agreed.

Sakura finally looked her way again, her jade eyes glowing in a understanding light, before closing again.

"Tell me if a girl starts to approach me. I would hate to have to sit through something I can easily avoid."

"O-Okay."

With that, she appeared to have fallen asleep –or whatever she was doing- again. No one bothered to look up at her, none of the girls interested at all in her. Hinata almost thought them stupid for not taking in their surroundings enough not to see the familiar pink hair of the once missing Haruno Sakura.

"Alright everyone," Iruka began, "It is wonderful to see you all again. As all of you should have noticed, we have a new face in the class."

Hinata could hear Sakura groan as she quickly sank under her desk. She didn't seem to like the attention of the female population of the class on her.

"Please sit up and tell everyone your name and a little about yourself," Iruka told her, frowning at her behavior.

She sat up, looking at no one but ahead of her, bowed gracefully, then pulled back up and looked not at one single soul in the room.

"I'm Haruno Sakura, age 12, I use to go here as an 8 year old but was adopted shortly after my parents death and taken to another village. My village was attacked and I was sent here for refuge. I am once again a citizen of Konoha and continuing my training here to be a kunoichi." She sat back down and resumed resting her head in her arms that were on the desk.

"Is there anything else about you that you would like to tell the class?" Iruka pressed on.

He noticed all she had done was squash the rumors of her being eaten by Itachi or whatever the current story was.

"I like a certain type of doll that is rare and handmade by one artist. I collect his work. I enjoy how pretty they all are." Sakura said in a dulled tone.

Iruka sighed. It wasn't relevant to anything. If anything, saying she liked to read would get her more friends than saying she collected dolls. If anything, most of the children would avoid her like the plague for being such a little girl, not that her height wasn't ridiculously small.

"Alright, thank you for your words Sakura-san."

"You're welcome," she said before closing her eyes.

Since she hadn't been too enthralled with the attention she had received, Iruka let her behavior slide for now. He would lecture her about sleeping in class later.

Lunch came at last, Sakura quietly pulling out her bento box and readying to leave.

"Hey there Forehead," a familiar voice called to her.

She peered down from where she sat in the class to see Yamanaka Ino waving to her. She had grown beautifully. But Naruto was right. Her and Deidara could be siblings.

"Ino-san," Sakura nodded.

"Don't Ino-san me!" Ino said in her bossy tone, "Get down here and have lunch with me!"

Sakura noticed that Hinata was readying to eat her lunch right there by herself. It didn't seem right for such a sweet girl to be left alone by herself so she decided since she was already in hell, why not try to make the path a little less hell like.

"Only if Hinata can come too and its only the three of us." Sakura said, stating her terms of socializing.

Both Hinata and Ino looked at her in shock. Ino recovered first.

"Okay, but only if Hinata wants to join." Ino said, nodding her head.

"S-sure."

"Then yes, I will come."

She got up wordlessly after that and walked over to Ino, Hinata following close behind. Ino just took the lead and led them to a small alcove to eat lunch. Since this was graduating year for them, they were allowed to eat away from the Academy.

Sakura admired the flowers. Many of them were rare and hard to manage, meaning this place didn't grow by itself.

"You have a lovely garden, Ino. I can see you take good care of it," Sakura finally said, breaking the awkward silence that hung in the air.

"How did you know that I did this?" Ino asked, "No one knows that I grew this."

"You are a Yamanaka for one thing," Sakura said as she untied her lunch, "Your family runs a flower store so I know you know your flowers. You were wonderful at raising flowers since our early days at the Academy. Plus, these are rare flowers. They need maitanance. They don't grow well without the right conditions, which Konoha doesn't have for about half of them."

There was a long pause before Ino finally spoke, "Dang forehead, I knew you were smart, but that was just ridiculously smart."

"Observation is key," Sakura said with a shrug, "I learned that from my former sensei. He was a stickler for detail and I also made friends with a botanist of sorts."

That seemed to bring Ino back to the subject she wanted to talk to her about, Hinata being there or not.

"That reminds me," she said, taking a swing at Sakura's head as hard as she could.

Sakura didn't move. She just took it. She had deserved it she guessed and Ino was about to tell her why. Hinata gasped at the violence, but Sakura had been hit harder during a spar with the other members of Akatsuki. It wasn't too hard.

"How dare you leave and not _once_ write to me and tell me that you were okay!" She yelled, her eyes glowing in righteous fury, "I thought you were dead! We all did! And now you have to gall to show up like nothing happened!?! I was worried sick for you for months before my family gave up thinking you had been killed."

Sakura's eyes widened. Sure, she knew Ino had watched over her, but she didn't know that she had cared so much. Something drew her attention away for a moment as she snapped her head in the direction that she had heard some rustling.

Both Hinata and Ino let out a yelp when a black furry thing jumped out and planted itself in Sakura's lap.

"Oh, Teisei," Sakura said with a light smile, "I thought I heard something."

The cat let out one of its small meows, capturing the hearts of the two other girls as it rubbed Sakura affectionately.

"I-is he yours?" Hinata asked with a tender tone.

"Nah, he's my friend's cat. Now, if you are here, where in the world is that blonde headed master of yours." Sakura mused.

"I'm sorry," she finally said, looking back up to Ino, "I didn't mean to make you worry. There just wasn't an opportunity to tell you, and there wasn't an opportunity to get a message to you that I was alright. But I was. I was very happy."

Ino sat down, looking at the rosette, "Are you happy now?"

"I'm adjusting." She allowed, stroking Teisei in her arms.

The three of them calmed down, Teisei never left her lap as she talked to the other girls and caught up on the latest gossip, more or less against her will. Sakura liked Hinata. She was kind, but perhaps a little too quiet. Ino was a little too loud and had the worst lunch she had seen in ages.

"Kami, Ino, that's not a healthy lunch for someone of you height and profession," She said, poking her chopsticks at the food, "Teisei eats more then this and he's a cat."

"I'm on a diet, Forehead," Ino huffed, "I don't want to get fat!"

Sakura rolled her eyes as she finally swatted Teisei off her lap. He took off in his usual silent dash, no doubt going to return home to Deidara. He was devoted to his master.

"W-will he be alright?" Hinata asked, watching the cat go.

"Yeah, Teisei will be fine. He's a smart little thing. We think he understands human words cause he does as he's told all the time." Sakura said as she stood up and brushed herself off, closing her empty bento box and going back to class with Hinata and Ino.

"Geez, Forehead, how much of that bento did you eat?"

"All of it. Unlike you, I am not on a diet and I need energy."

"Yeah cause you fell asleep through the whole first part of class." Ino said with a laugh.

"No," Sakura said with a shake of her head, "Just because I had my eyes closed doesn't mean I was asleep. I just was thinking about something else. The class is boring as hell."

They returned to class a little ahead of time to Ino's chagrin and Hinata's relief. Sakura and Hinata sat back down and before Sakura closed her eyes again she head Hinata's faint voice.

"Thank you for t-taking me along," she whispered.

"My pleasure Hinata." Sakura whispered back, "You are really sweet. You are enjoyable to be around."

She could feel Hinata's chakra unintentionally spike in happiness to such words. It made her wonder why the heiress had reacted so happily to such simple words. Did no one tell her those things before?

Class continued. Iruka finally became fed up with her eyes being closed and threw a particularly hard question her way. She didn't even hesitate in her answer, then flickered her eyes opened and glared at him in an annoyed look.

"Would you like me to teach the class for a while, too?" She asked irritated.

She had picked up a lot of traits from her pervious senseis- including Pein's distaste for stupid questions, Sasori's hate of asinine questions, and Konan's dislike of being brought into main view.

"I will need to talk to you after class Haruno-san."

After that, came outside classes. Sakura did what she was told when she was told it was quickly and quietly as possible without putting on a show. She ran, she jumped, she threw her kunai and shuriken, and she preformed the basic katas for the Academy taught taijutsu.

They headed back inside to practice their jutsus and then everyone left.

School, at last, was over.

"Haruno-san," Iruka called to her as she was readying to leave, "Did you forget we needed to talk?"

"No," She said as she came down the stairs, closer to him, and sat on the top of a desk, "Okay Teacher, teach."

"Your behavior is unacceptable."

"You lessons are repetitive." Sakura shot back, "I have been gone for four years and that was pretty close to what you were teaching back then."

"You can't be sleeping in class."

"I wasn't. I answered you right when you called on me and answered the question without hesitation. I merely had my eyes closed because I was mentally working out a problem in my head. It's really complex and closing my eyes helps me concentrate." Sakura shot back again.

"I see," Iruka said with a sigh, "Look, Sakura, I can tell from what I have seen that you've heard most of this before. But I need you to at least look like you are paying attention for the sake of the rest of the class. I can't play favorites."

"Why not? Half these kids aren't going to make it. Only about two other girls here other than me even have a lick of potential and about only six boys present here had that same potential. Why don't you work on those who are serious about their careers and not those creepy girls that have been following after Sasuke all day? I mean, if you just open your eyes you'd see it was true. The rest of them will fall back into being civilians. The shinobi life is too hard for people like them. Clan kids are usually the only ones who usually make it as shinobi and it is easy to see that they are the only ones in this class taking it seriously."

Iruka stared at her for a minute, eyes wide at the extensive observation the little girl had even when her eyes had been shut all day. But one thing made him curious and he really wanted to know the answer to it.

"You said six boys in the class room currently had potential, only five are clan children. Who is the sixth?"

Sakura shook her head as she gave him her own confused look, "I know he might be an orphan, but in all the books I've read, Uzumaki has been a revered clan up until twenty-six years ago. They live right outside on the borders of Mizu."

"Uzumaki? They were a clan?" Iruka questioned, then suddenly realized what she had meant, "You think that Naruto could be a ninja?"

"Of course," Sakura said, hopping down from the desk, "He has the largest freaking chakra reserves I have ever seen and I have seen some impressive people in my short life. I don't know what you guys are thinking not helping him more, but he holds promise." Then she added darkly, "Anyone who can keep finding a way into my house to bug me while I am writing my thesis is a master of infiltration."

Iruka stared at her a bit longer before she looked at him with those big jade eyes, pouting as she made them doe eyes, "Can I go now?"

"Yes…"

With that she left. She was going to walk home alone, but Sasuke and Naruto had waited for her.

"Hey Sakura-chan! You wanna walk home with us?" Naruto asked in his little cute puppy way.

"Sure, as long as Uchiha's fan girls don't start trying to hunt me down," Sakura said with a coy smile, "I would hate to have to use you as repellant Naruto."

Naruto laughed happily, "You are welcome to if you need to! Teme does it all the time. I would be mad at him if I didn't see him come home once only with his underwear still on. They ransacked him of everything else."

With that he laughed again, Sakura chuckling at the thought while Sasuke's face heated up. She had been nervous at first around Sasuke because she knew his brother so well, but he was nicer then she had given him credit for. Still the same little boy that admired his brother so.

Even if he didn't realize he did.

"So I saw Teisei around here earlier," Sasuke said as they began heading home, "what was he doing around here? Isn't he always around Deidara?"

"Yeah, I guess he was checking up on me, he sat with me at lunch. Deidara gets anxious. We are working on that, but for right now, he needs to adapt slowly back into crowds."

"But, isn't he really good? I mean he trains all day!" Naruto said with emphasis.

"Are you kidding? He's talented!" Sakura said with a huge smile, before it withered, "He just needs time to recover. Touching people usually gives him some sort of flashback if he isn't careful. He will eventually break it, but as it was said 'Rome wasn't built in a day.'"

…

"Hey Sakura-chan… what's Rome?"

* * *

Ages at the end of the chapter:

Sakura-12

Deidara-15

Naruto- 11 (12 in October)

Sasuke- 12

I mentioned all their ages in the stories, but, well, just incase you couldn't remember.

Remember:

Itachi put Sasuke under a genjutsu that replayed all the memories that Itachi had of him and Sasuke. The whole Eyes unclouded by hate thing too. He's still quiet and darker than Naruto, but not hateful. Kinda like all those non-massacre stories. Same Sasuke before he went crazy with revenge!

Thankies! -_bows_- Please take care of this story!

Ja Ne

Volleys-chan


	12. Chapter 12

Greetings.

Not much to say other than thanks for all the reviews!! What is funny is everytime I think of Naruto's birthday, I realize "Hey, my dad's birthday is Oct. 10th. Hmmmm." Though I know he's not jinchuuriki... a girl can wish can't she? Lol.

So anyways, this is the new chapter and I hope you can enjoy it.

Enjoy

* * *

_**Hummingbird**_

Chapter 12

October 10th

* * *

**Disclaimer: Do not own Naruto**

* * *

Even though the Academy was as boring as hell, it still took up most of her time. She was usually only able to train late in the day and early morning. It made her a little upset, because she liked to train a lot more then she was, but she had to deal.

Deidara didn't come to class. She didn't push the subject either. She didn't want to go, but knew one of them should foster some friendships with other people and both knew Deidara wasn't about to do it.

Sakura was becoming good friends with Ino, Hinata, Naruto, and Sasuke. The girls ate lunch with her and Ino didn't look all to broken up when the other girls excluded her. She said it was bound to happen. Hinata was finally talking a little louder and though she still stuttered, she didn't close up as often. She was surprised when she learned that Ino was Sasuke's friend who kept the other fan girls off him. Apparently that had occurred when Ino had been mourning the loss of Sakura.

Naruto and Sasuke would walk her home everyday, showing her tons of shortcuts and was to get around the village easily. It was nice to know so many routes home- even if it was because of Sasuke's many adoring fans.

Deidara would come out and spend time with Sasuke and Naruto when they were training. He would chat with them a bit, but usually nothing much. He was still have issues with trusting them. He was improving though. She had caught him once showing Naruto the proper way of throwing a kunai. It was hands on and Naruto was on his best behavior.

Summer was quickly over and fall was setting in. As she had predicted, the colder, wetter days, Deidara didn't even bother leaving the house or his dojo.

It was the day before the festival and school was in session only half a day. Sakura knew it was just a half day and didn't bother to get up and go.

"Hey," She said as she entered the dojo, already dressed in the smallest kosode and hakama that had once been Deidara's, "You need a spar partner?"

"I always like having something to go against, yeah," Deidara said, taking out two wooden swords that were weighted to match the weight of a sword.

Sakura was always amazed at what Deidara could do with a couple seals. She took her position, the one that Kisame had taught her and observed Deidara's more complex stance. Kisame might have taught her as well, but Deidara was his apprentice and had long since surpassed her skills in kenjutsu.

She put up the best she had, both of them going back and forth in graceful moves, but in the end, he pinned her every time. He was trained better and practiced more than she did and it easily showed.

"Thanks Hime," He said with a smile, "I needed an opponent, yeah."

"Have some holes in your defenses you noticed?" Sakura questioned as she wiped away some sweat off her forehead.

"Yeah. Sensei always warned me about those, but its hard not to fix them without having a sparring partner." He said as he put the wooden swords away.

"Well, consider me anytime, 'kay?" Sakura said with a smile, "What are partners for if not to help you grow?"

Deidara let out a cocky grin as he chuckled, "I guess I failed you there, cause you are still the shortest girl I know, yeah."

"Deidara!!!!" Sakura yelled angrily as she gave chase to the blonde.

He managed to get out of the house and was out of sight before she even had the chance to say another word.

"Ooooo," She growled, shouting out what she had to say next, "I will get you later! You have to come back eventually!"

With that she turned around and began marching inside. She was interrupted from her angry thoughts by a small voice.

"S-s-sakura?"

She whipped around to see Hinata slowly approaching her home, carrying some papers in her arm.

"Oh, hi Hinata," Sakura greeted with a happy tone, forgetting all about her stupid partner.

"Are y-you alright?"

Hinata walked closer until she was in front of Sakura.

"Yeah, just chasing an idiot." Sakura said with a small laugh.

The air was chilly. It made her slightly worried about Deidara since he was covered in sweat, but for now, she needed to be hospitable.

"Its cold out today and its only noon, would you like to come in for some tea? I can easily put some on the table and I have some snacks ready to be eaten in the fridge."

"If- if that wouldn't be a bother," Hinata nodded with a worried, insecure look.

"No, of course not," Sakura said, motioning Hinata to follow her in, "I need to get lunch ready anyhow and I would love some company."

Hinata nodded, following her in. She stopped once they entered the common room kitchen area, "Y-your home is l-lovely!"

"Thanks," Sakura said with a huge grin, "It took all summer to get it just right."

She went to the fridge, pulled out the snacks and prepped the kettle for tea. Hinata had sat down at the table, but was still looking around and admiring the place. The paintings, drawing, and figurines were all made by Deidara during his off times throughout the years. He liked to keep himself busy, even when resting.

"These p-pictures are beautiful," Hinata told her as she stared at awe at a old work of a bird Deidara had down.

Sakura joined her at the table while she waited for the water to boil.

"Oh, be careful what you say about those," Sakura laughed, "The artist already has a big ego when it comes to his work, let's not make it any bigger than it is."

"Oh…" Hinata said in a quiet tone, "You mean, you personally know the artist?"

At her house, there were so many paintings and works of art that her family just purchased. They didn't care who painted them or worked hard on them. But Sakura seemed to know the artist of each and ever single one of these pieces.

"Yeah," Sakura smiled, "He's the blonde baka trying to slip upstairs without me noticing."

Hinata blinked before Sakura turned to face the empty hallway, "Deidara, come get something tea to warm yourself up. Then go take a shower, you stink."

Just at that moment two things happened, one was the kettle shrilling that it was done and the other was a blonde haired teen who looked somewhat like Ino walked into the room with a loose smile that reflected him being caught by Sakura.

"Caught me, yeah," He said as he rubbed the back of his head, "I was sure I didn't make a sound at all, too."

"I can smell you Deidara," Sakura said as she got up and grabbed the kettle, prepping three cups instead of two, "That and its too cold outside for you."

Hinata just stared at the blonde like a deer into headlights. She wasn't use to talking to boys and though she really liked Naruto, she felt herself shutdown at the sight of blonde hair and blue eyes.

"Oh boy," Sakura said as she waved her hand in front of Hinata's face, "You made her clam up."

Deidara looked at her in surprise, "I made her clam up? Hell, I am not going to jump on her and hug her! Do I look like Naruto, yeah?"

Sakura squinted, "Slightly. You have blonde hair, blue eyes, but then again, she might think that you are Ino's long lost twin with your looks."

Deidara grumbled darkly as he sat down and began to sip his tea. Sakura quickly snapped Hinata out of it.

"Hinata," she said, snapping her fingers in front of the heiress, "Don't zone out."

Hinata jumped in startlement, rambling an apology.

"Ah, don't worry about it," Sakura said as she lightly slugged Deidara in the arm, "He's more afraid of you then anything."

"I might be more afraid of you than anything else," Deidara grumbled as he rubbed the arm she punched, "Do you have to be so mean?"

"Because I'm short remember? I'm short-tempered, I'm short in patience, and still short in height." Sakura said with a glare, "Now how about you finish your tea and go upstairs before I shorten the length of your hair?"

Deidara was gone in a flash, his tea cup empty and his chair pushed in. Sakura laughed lightly as she turned to Hinata who was still nervous looking.

"Don't mind him, really, he's really sweet, just a little arrogant." Sakura shrugged.

"Oh, no, it wasn't that… I just… I mean… I… I don't do to g-good with men," Hinata said, shrinking down in her chair, "I j-just can't help it."

Sakura shook her head, "You can, it just takes time for you to overcome a fear. Don't worry about Deidara, he won't touch you or even let you touch him unless he has to."

"H-he didn't have a problem with you," Hinata rebuttled her statement.

"I'm different." Sakura shrugged, "I took the time to make it okay."

She took a sip from her tea, lingering in a sad memory from what Hinata could tell, but before she could ask, a familiar wisp of fur came bouncing in with a huge rat in its grasps, still squirming and still very alive.

"Oh, thank you Teisei," Sakura told the kitten as she took the rat in her grasps, "I will take care of him for you."

The cat purred for a second before its silver eyes laid on Hinata. He pounced into her lap and have a friendly purr.

"He remembers you," Sakura mused as she petted the rat to calm it down.

"H-hello, Teisei," Hinata said nervously as she stroked the cat's head gently, "How are you?"

The cat mewed at her, using his best innocent look that won her heart immediately. Sakura laughed, excusing herself for a second before leaving. She came back without the rat and washed her hands thoroughly before sitting back down.

"Alright Teisei," Sakura said to the cat, "Go find your master, he's no doubt pouting in his room after I threatened his hair."

The cat looked at her with his silver eyes before looking at Hinata, giving her a friendly meow, and dashed out of the room and up the stairs.

"That was D-Deidara-san's cat?" Hinata asked, looking very surprised.

"Wouldn't take him for a cat person, huh?" Sakura asked amused, "He's not, but the cat was a parting gift. He grew attached afterwards."

There was a pause before Sakura continued, "So, why did you come visit me? It seems a little out of character for you to do so unannounced or without reason."

"Oh, yes," Hinata squeaked, her face heating up lightly in embarrassment, "I-I was given your homework to bring to you."

"Oh," Sakura said with a lightened stare, "Oh, well okay."

Hinata rushed to pull her backpack out and the large stack of papers, "I don't know why, b-but he gave me two of everything."

"Yeah," Sakura nodded, taking the papers and quickly glancing through them before looking back up to her with a smile, "Well, thanks. Don't worry about the extras, I need those as well."

"O-Okay," Hinata said, squirming a bit before standing up, "I-I guess I should go."

"You don't have to," Sakura waved calmly at her, "I was just about to make lunch and I would love to talk with you."

"What- what about Deidara-san?"

"He'll be fine, the baby, he'll no doubt just read or study or whatever he feels like. It's around noon anyways, he studies around now anyways," Sakura waved off, standing up and heading to the kitchen.

"A-alright, as… as long as you let me help," Hinata said in a very determined voice.

Sakura turned around and threw her a smirk, "Sure, why not?"

* * *

Sakura groaned as she pulled her pillow on top of her head. Today was the 10th, the Kyuubi festival. She hated festivals because it meant everything was going to be more crowded than usual, meaning there was no way she was about to attempt going anywhere today.

She had spent the rest of yesterday with Hinata, cooking with her and having a good time. Deidara didn't come downstairs, but she had expected as much from him and his distaste for company. He was still getting use to Sasuke and Naruto, adding yet another person to the list seemed to be pushing it.

He came down once she had left, clean and showered, his hair still damp from not blow drying it. Teisei also looked a little wet, so she figured that Deidara had bathed the cat as well. He didn't look too thrilled, but he laid in the sun and licked himself dry.

Something opened her door, pulling her from her musings, it was Deidara.

"Hime-chan!" He said in an excited voice, "Tonight is a festival with fireworks, yeah!"

Oh. Yes. He would be excited for fireworks. They had never seen real ones made by anything that was not his explosive clay. He wasn't allowed to make this big of bangs on missions so seeing really big ones would excite him.

Especially when they had a good view from the greenhouse above his room.

"Yes, but that isn't for hours, Dei-kun," she muttered from under her pillow, "Why are you bothering me right now?"

It got really quiet. She cursed her normal crankiness in the morning as she looked up at him. He was shuffling his feet as he looked at them, looking very much like the lost child he was.

"I've never been to a festival…"

"You want to go?" She asked incrediously.

He shook his head quickly, fear entering his eyes as he looked at her. "No! I want… er… Um… if it isn't a hassle…"

Sakura understood, "You want me to pick up some food from the festival, right?"

He peered up at her from under his fringes, "Could you?"

With a face so innocent and shy, Sakura couldn't even dare say 'no'.

* * *

Why was she doing this?

She had asked herself so many times as she walked through the streets, buying massive amounts of food that the stalls had to offer. She was dressed up in one of her nicest Kimonos and was wearing a mask that she had picked up at one of the booths as well as one for Deidara.

Right. Deidara had asked, being as shy and nervous as when he had first gone swimming. How could she say no to that face?!?!

She purchased the last thing and turned around to leave. She had played a few games, winning herself a couple of fish or nine, and had even purchased goods that could not be found at any other time of year. All of it had been sealed in a scroll and now she was quickly sealing away the last of the goods, tucking the scroll away.

She marched through some ally ways, not at all nervous of people lurking in them. She could take out ninjas of B rank skill without problems and some A rank as well- though only tenderfoots to the rank- she would have no problems taking out a few drunken civilians.

However, she was not expecting what she found in the dark alley on her way back home.

A crowd was surrounding something, yelling curses and cruel names at whatever they had captured in their thick circle of drunken men.

"You demon!" One shouted, kicking whatever it was in anger, "My family is dead because of you! And yet here you live!"

Sakura tilted her head. Were they beating up upon a fox? That would make sense if they were angry about the Kyuubi, but no. Sakura had picked up with chakra signal and almost retched like she had her first day with a dead body. They were beating upon a human child. They were thrashing Naruto.

"I'm sorry," she could hear him whimpering, "Whatever I did to you, I'm sorry!! Please stop."

She was usually calm, but not in this case. She knew the boy was a happy, go lucky guy who wouldn't do what these people had said he had done. She had more blood on her hands then Naruto. Her anger was righteous and none could blame her actions as she took the next offending appendage that threatened to hurt Naruto and make it crunch sickeningly under her grip, or when she, in blind fury, punished each and every single one of the blonde's offenders by giving them each a thrashing.

Naruto hadn't moved from his spot. He was a mess. He was helplessly shaking as he curled his body into itself and kept his face buried in his knees and hands over his neck.

Sakura finished off the last of them, none of them had even seen her coming until she was upon them, even then, none of them had even seen a detail of her to describe. It came like the wind and vanished like a shadow in the night was what would be said to the ANBU later that night.

She walked lightly up to Naruto and touched him gently, feeling him flinch as she laid her hand on his back, "Hey Naruto. Let's get you home."

"Home's dangerous," he whispered, "Today is dangerous. I thought that maybe if I used a henge I would be able to see the festival for once… I've always wanted to go… but people threaten me…" He let out a heavy, shaking breath, as he sobbed, "Today's my birthday."

It made Sakura's blood run cold. Today was his birthday? And he was treated like this? He should have been a beacon of hope to be born on a day such as this, not a outlet for aggressive anger.

"Alright," Sakura whispered, "Then let's get you to my house and get you cleaned up."

He nodded as he glanced up a little, "Okay…"

Sakura helped him up, casting a strong genjutsu over them and helped him hobble back to her house. She almost lost it when she saw the damage done to Naruto and Sasuke's house during her absence. Naruto looked a little worried as he saw the wreckage.

"Sasuke…" He managed to say, "He didn't leave the house… he might be in trouble…"

Someone larger then Sakura swooped Naruto up, holding him instead of trying to walk him home. Sakura noticed Deidara's long hair as he quickly made his way back to their home. She couldn't see his features, but apparently he wasn't very happy at the moment.

"He's alright," Deidara told him as he entered the house, Sakura right behind him, peering in to see Teisei dashing out of the kitchen.

Deidara brought him into the common room area and set him down gently on the couch. Sakura noticed Sasuke's slumped figure resting his upper half on the kitchen table as he sat in a chair. His face buried inside his arms, like shielding himself.

"There was a commotion outside," Deidara told her as he stood to full height, "It turns out to be a lot of adults defacing their house and beating up on him," he motioned with his eyes to Sasuke, "for being- and I quote- 'friends of a demon', yeah."

She could see Deidara's distress. It was hitting too close to home for him.

"It's his birthday today," Sakura whispered, motioning at Naruto with her eyes, "For some reason they were calling him a demon."

Deidara looked at Naruto for a moment before looking at the Uchiha, "He said the same thing about it being Naruto's birthday. He said that he had wanted to see the festival up close for once and maybe have a little fun."

"Some fun," Sakura whispered, her eyes lowering, "Birthdays are suppose to be nice."

Deidara took her upstairs for a moment to speak to her alone.

"Do you know why they were calling him that?" He asked her, looking at her with a strong stare.

"The bijuu that was known as the Kyuubi came through here." She told him, Deidara would have no clue about this since it was a Konoha piece of history, "Today is the day that the Namikaze Minato, the fourth Hokage, killed the Kyuubi."

Deidara paused for a moment, eyes wide with disbelief, "That's bull."

Her eyes clouded with confusion.

"I don't know what they call it here, but there is no way in hell that you can kill a bijuu, let alone the king of the demons. He must have sealed him away like the rest." Deidara paused for a second before looking at the staircase, "Kami, Naruto must have been the jinchuuriki. That's why they hate him."

"Jinchuuriki?" Sakura asked in disbelief.

Pein had passed her a scroll on them once. She didn't know why, but she had a feeling it was something to do with Akatsuki's main mission.

"Naruto, the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi?" She asked in a low whisper.

"Yeah. Back home, we had one too. My mother told me about him often, he was in a similar position as us, so he gave us hope by still existing, yeah. Bijuu can only be sealed away into a living sacrifice- a jinchuuriki."

"So, he's not the Kyuubi is he?" Sakura asked, checking up on the knowledge she had on the subject with a more experienced person in the subject.

"No," Deidara shook his head, "Namikaze Minato was one of the greatest seals masters there were. He wouldn't botch up a seal of this caliber when a innocent's life was on the line, yeah. Despite what Iwa's people think, he was very considerate to the value of life. Naruto is not the Kyuubi, just like a jar, he isn't what's held inside."

Sakura nodded, her heart calming down. They had been talking in hushed whispers in her medic's lab. She nodded to him before motioning him to help grab supplies.

"Poor Naruto," She finally said, "Now I get why everyone is so mean to him. But it's wrong."

"I know," Deidara agreed, grabbing some gauze and sterilizer from the cabinets, "and he's probably never celebrated his birthday either, yeah."

Sakura turned to him, holding all the supplies she could carry, "Maybe we should fix that."

Deidara looked at her for a second before a smile crept on his face, "Maybe we should."

But first they had to tend to the boys first.

They were where they had left them, according to the cat, who laid there in a window sill watching them intently, they hadn't moved at all from their positions.

"Tend to Naruto, I've got Uchiha here, yeah." Deidara told her, walking over to Sasuke as Sakura sat next to Naruto's resting form on the couch and began to look them over.

Deidara was quick, like he had been with Sasuke before, only calling Sakura over to check on what he had done. She gave him an okay, only having to tug a rib back in place and healing it so it wouldn't move out of place.

Naruto took her a while, but soon there was a blond boy where there had once been a mess.

"Now both of you head upstairs and find a guest room," Sakura told them scooting them upstairs, "We are not about to let you head out there when there are people out there drunk enough to attack anything that moves. Get washed up, Deidara will drop off some clothes for you two to borrow for the night, then head up to the fourth floor, okay?"

Both muttered a downcast confirmation and went to do as they were told. It never did take Sakura long to mix up a cake. While it was left to bake, she had gone upstairs to the fourth floor, where the greenhouse was dimly lit by the night sky, and set up a table and the food she had gathered.

Deidara was sad he had to share, but didn't put up a stink about it. He began to help her right after dropping off the clothes and even disappeared for a while to find a suitable gift for the blonde. Sakura did the same, looking through all her things for something he could open and appreciate.

The cake was done, and, after cheating just a little to cool it down faster, she frosted it and took it upstairs. She had just put it away for later when the two boys reappeared.

"Wh-what's all this?" Naruto asked in awe, his mood recovering lightly from before.

There was food and quickly wrapped up items, but the atmosphere said there was something more.

"Well, today is your birthday," Sakura said with a light smile, nudging Deidara who was standing next to her with his arms folded and looking serious.

"So…" He started, taking a deep breath and looking away in embarrassment, "We wanted to give you a little birthday party, yeah. No one should not celebrate their own birthday."

He blushed a little as he said it. He wasn't good with this sort of thing, just like the rest of the male Akatsuki members.

"You… are throwing me a birthday party?" Naruto asked in shock.

"Yes," Deidara snapped as he sat down, his face red with embarrassment, "So shut up and dig in." He paused. "Happy birthday Naruto."

"Happy birthday," Sakura agreed, smiling softly as she too sat down.

Naruto looked at Sasuke who shrugged, and quietly wished him a happy birthday as well. Naruto stood there for a moment before he began to smile, tearing up as he looked at them.

It had crushed Sakura's heart. She had always seen him as the upbeat kid who wouldn't leave anyone out. He always smiled, but now, she saw it was all a farce. She felt stupid for not seeing it earlier, but perhaps back then, she hadn't really cared.

"Thanks guys," he whispered as he wiped his tears off on the sleeve of his borrowed clothes.

"Just sit down and open up your presents," Deidara told him, getting uncomfortable with the blonde crying.

So, Naruto did. He sat down with his friends and ate and opened up the presents. He knew that they were last minute things, but was still amazed by how cool they were. Deidara was giving him an old blade that he had outgrown, but was just the right size for Naruto, and Sakura had given him a set of beautifully made kunais- about fifty of them.

"And since I don't trust you with a sword," Deidara continued, "Come back for some lessons."

Not wanting Sasuke to be left out he added, "You too Uchiha. I need someone to pay attention so when he doesn't, I don't have to repeat myself, yeah."

Shortly afterwards, they had cake, which Naruto was ecstatic about, and watched as the fireworks went off. Deidara was super enthusiastic as he watched them, pointing to each one and telling them how they probably made them. Naruto was interested and even though Sasuke pretended not to be, he listened intently too.

Naruto and Sasuke stayed the night, sleeping well for once on Naruto's birthday while Sakura and Deidara guarded their home. Deidara stayed up the whole night since Sakura had to go to class in the morning with the other two.

He frowned at that. He hated her going so far away. Not just her now, he was fearful for Naruto and Sasuke as well. They were kind to him, even patient with him. They didn't deserve what had happened at it seemed that this happened to Naruto often.

He had seen the boy practice his taijutsu. He was a complete mess. He would have to talk to Sakura about it, but he was sure there were other things that were happening at school to him. No one treated Jinchuurikis well. Just like his clan had been treated poorly. He knew what it felt like to be alone.

Teisei came up to him and sat in his lap as he sat in the greenhouse watching for anomalies.

"Teisei, I have a feeling that can't stay this way anymore," He told his cat with a sigh, "I just hope I don't get sick tomorrow…"

* * *

Ages at the end of the chapter:

Sakura-12

Deidara-15

Naruto- 12

Sasuke- 12

I mentioned all their ages in the stories, but, well, just incase you couldn't remember.

Remember:

Itachi put Sasuke under a genjutsu that replayed all the memories that Itachi had of him and Sasuke. The whole Eyes unclouded by hate thing too. He's still quiet and darker than Naruto, but not hateful. Kinda like all those non-massacre stories. Same Sasuke before he went crazy with revenge!

Thankies! -_bows_- Please take care of this story!

Ja Ne

Volleys-chan


	13. Chapter 13

Greetings.

Not much to say other than thanks for all the reviews!! I know I have been busy, but I want to tell all of you that I actually finished a story!!! OMG! My new years resolution of about ten years has come true!!! But it is not this story. And the story as a whole isn't done- the one I finished...

Drat.

But for any of you who ever liked the whole DBZ Vegeta-Bulma thing go try my version. Its AU, but only because of a butterfly effect that messed everything up (like I did in this one) Most readers like it. It's called Trusted One. But seriously. Go read it. It's a piece of your childhood and you know it.

So anyways, this is the new chapter and I hope you can enjoy it. Things are going to pick up after the next chapter (I can only hope)

Enjoy

* * *

_**Hummingbird**_

Chapter 13

_Pact_

* * *

**Disclaimer: Do not own Naruto**

* * *

Sakura was reading under her desk as Iruka spoke. She didn't bother to look up and didn't bother to act as if she really cared. She was just here because she had to be. Hinata was next to her, listening intently as she jotted down notes on whatever Iruka said. Sometimes she would miss something important and Sakura would quickly jot it down and hand it to her on a scrap paper.

Hinata was always happy and grateful. Naruto wasn't here today, nor was Sasuke. She knew they were sleeping in late, she had made sure that they were still sleeping after yesterday's trial. Deidara was being good and watching over them instead of heading off.

"I-I wonder where N-Naruto is." Hianta whispered, "I hope he's alright."

"I bet he's just tired from yesterday," Sakura whispered back.

"Oh…" Hinata looked down at her notes, "Yesterday was his birthday. I-I h-hope he had a good day."

"I think it probably went well at the end," Sakura agreed, reading her book only lightly, listening to Hinata.

"Sakura," Iruka interrupted, "Can you tell me what I am speaking about?"

"You are talking about the history of Konoha." Sakura told him with a quick glance at him, before looking back down at her book, "You were explaining the beginning of the Shodai's reign and were heading to the Yondaime's reign and the defeat of the Kyuubi." She paused, looking up at him with her jade eyes glowing, "But shouldn't you teach the class about something more important than what they hear from their mommies and daddies everyday? I mean, where are the strategic plans of war? Where is the information about the various techniques that won and lost battles? Where is the stories about the internal struggles that have occurred within Konoha? Maybe you should pick up some new material. Maybe then I will actually listen to your boring lecture."

She turned her eyes back down to her book, ignoring all the stares the rest of the class were giving her. Hinata was whispered an 'uh oh' as she watched Iruka and Mizuki look at her with anger. Iruka looked as upset as he got with Naruto- which wasn't too bad. Yet Mizuki looked pissed. He must have had a bad night last night, she mused.

She had realized last night that he picked on Naruto in a very subtle manner as to not look suspicious. His aura reeked of death and she could tell now that she was actually paying his character any mind, that he was not a good man like Iruka.

"…Haruno-" Mizuki started.

He was always trying to pick up the slack of his kinder half. Where Iruka would kindly call her Sakura-san (or Haruno_-san_ when in trouble), Mizuki called her Haruno.

"Yeah I know," Sakura sighed, "Detention right? Or do you not believe it important enough to do that?"

"My office, now." Mizuki said in a sharp tone that meant no nonsense.

Sakura was having a bad day. Her internal depression on how people treated Naruto made her sick. She use to be the one who was picked on and she was the one who had to struggle to make other notice her. She was having a hard time seeing him so sad and had lost a lot of sleep on it. She was cranky and her temper very short. Not in the mood for someone like Mizuki.

"No." She said, setting her jaw, "I don't think so."

"Haruno, I am your sensei and you will listen to me," Mizuki yelled at her.

"No, Iruka-san is more my sensei than you," she shot back, looking away from her book and snapping it shut, "You are just the slacker that let's Iruka-san do it all. I had a sensei, and you are _not_ him."

There was a hush of whispers as Sakura stared down the Chuunin. He was glaring at her with such intensity. She arch an eyebrow, almost asking him what he could do to her to make her move.

"Stand up now, Haruno," Mizuki roared.

She angled her head, and peered down at him with her best imitation of Sasori's annoyed look, "Make me."

He got up out of his chair and made a dash for her seat. Iruka called out in panic but she was afraid. She was readying a senbon with her hand, prepared to counter as soon as he got into range.

It was right then that the door in the back of the classroom, the one that some of the students came in through during the morning time and lunch time, opened. Mizuki was caught almost instantly afterwards and flung back into his seat in a flash.

"Wow, school is more interesting than I thought it would be, yeah," She looked up from where she sat to see Deidara standing above her.

He was giving a relaxed feeling to the class, but she could see he was pale and nauseous looking. He turned his head to the side to the door.

"Does this always happen?"

"No! Or it would be really cool, tebayo! It's really actually boring." Naruto's voice sounded as the boy came in with Sasuke right behind him looking bored and indifferent.

"Too bad, might have made it interesting," Deidara shrugged before looking down at Iruka, "Hey, who do I give my tardy notice to, yeah?"

Harsh whispers sounded once again in the room as Iruka stared at the boy who had caught his partner and literally thrown him across the room, back into his chair, knocking him out temporarily. He cleared his throat, ending the whispers and began to take charge.

"I am. I am Umino Iruka. I am the current teacher of this class along with Mizuki-san."

"So I give it to you?" Deidara double checked, snagging Naruto and Sasuke's as the two went and sat in their spots.

"Yes," Iruka said, nodding.

Deidara shrugged. He was wearing his hair in a loose braid that was slung sloppily on his chest, his hair done just so, so that no one could see his left eye- however not looking like Ino in the slightest. He was wearing a crème Chinese top with a golden phoenix etching into it that went to his knees and black slacks and black flats. Sakura remembered that Konan had bought it for him. He lightly trotted down the step and stood in front of Iruka, holding out the slips.

"Thank you," Iruka said, peering down at the new name, recognizing it instantly, "So you are the other transfer student."

"Yeah, sure," Deidara said with a roll of his eyes, "Can you tell me where to sit now?"

Iruka didn't like his behavior, but chose to ignore it for now, "Introduce yourself and then we will get you a seat."

Deidara looked around and noticed that there were no open seats. He shrugged already planning over that before quickly facing the class and giving them one graceful sweep of a bow.

"I am Deidara, no surname. I am a boy, not a girl, yeah. I do not like being mistaken as one and will not tolerate anyone calling me that. Do not touch me or you will regret it." He looked at Iruka, expectantly.

"Do you have anything else to say? Like what you like?" Iruka coaxed him.

He was worse the Haruno.

"I like to keep my business my business and do enjoy beating the pulp out of people who ask me about my habit of saying 'yeah'." He looked again at Iruka.

The class was completely silent. Iruka stared at him with the 'are you freaking serious?' look.

Deidara rolled his eyes, "I have a cat. I like him. He will no doubt show up." He turned to Iruka yet again, "Can I sit down now, yeah?"

Iruka sighed, nodding and looking at his notes of where to place the boy, "I think we could squeeze a chair in right next to Cho-"

"No need," Deidara shrugged, moving back up the rows and standing next to Sakura, "I already know where I'm sitting."

He picked her up, sitting himself in her seat, and sat her down on his lap. Sakura made no fuss and began to read again as the blonde set his forehead on her shoulder. Everyone just stared until Sakura glanced up at all of them, snapping Iruka back into his state of mind.

"Okay," he decided to fix this later, "Back to what we were talking about-"

* * *

The lunch bell rang. Sakura could hear Deidara let out a sigh of relief. The kids all getting up and going about their business. She still had her eyes glued to her book, but patted him on the head.

"Just keep breathing," she told him as she kept reading, "Long, even breaths."

"A-are you alright Deidara-san?" Hinata whispered.

She had noticed his strange behavior during the lesson. He wouldn't look up and he looked almost sick.

He glanced at her before shaking his head. Closing the one eye he left visible as he hugged Sakura's frame closer to him.

He mumbled as he pressed his head closer to Sakura, "I don't think I can do this…"

"You can do it, Dei," Sakura confirm, "It's just like learning to fight, one kata at a time."

"Easy for you," Deidara grumbled, "You've been doing it since you were little, yeah."

"What? Katas or being around people?"

"Both," he told her before pulling his chin up and resting it on her shoulder, eyeing whoever had come up to them.

Sakura glanced up and noticed it was Ino, Sasuke, and Naruto. She could see Iruka motioning for her to come down to talk to him with Mizuki _glaring_ at her.

"I hate to do this, but I have to go talk to Iruka-san." Sakura told him, easily pulling from his grip. She glanced at Naruto and Sasuke, "Take care of him for a bit, okay? I will be back in a minute."

"Okay, Sakura-chan! Don't worry about a thing! We'll take good care of Deidara-kun!" Naruto said as he gave her a thumbs up.

"Can someone tell me what's going on? Cause I seem to be the only clueless one." Ino barked.

Sakura was already nearing Iruka and prepared for an attack from Mizuki.

"Sakura," Iruka said with a stern look, "Do you mind telling me what is the matter? You don't usually act in such poor spirits or talk during class."

"I was awake most of last night Iruka-san, I wasn't in very good spirits when I found my neighbors had been attacked and their house defaced. I was telling Hinata not to worry about yesterday as she seemed to be worried." Sakura told him in the plainest manner.

He knew what she had said though. Naruto and Sasuke had been attacked, she had given them refuge, and she as cranky from lack of sleep. She had been making sure that Hinata was not worried about it either.

"I see," Iruka nodded as he looked up to see Naruto in high spirits as well as Sasuke.

Deidara looked ill as he rested there, his exposed eye staring a hole into Iruka's head. He didn't seem pleased with Sakura being down there alone.

"However, your behavior was not acceptable," he continued, "So I want you to go find someone who is struggling in taijutsu and work with him for at least ten hours and get them to sign off on it. Do you understand?"

Sakura stared at him before nodding…

Was he telling her to go help Naruto? She smiled as he winked at her. He must have.

"Yes, Iruka-san," she said a little put out like before turning and leaving, "I will do as you asked."

She headed back up, patting Deidara on the head, "Okay, we can leave for lunch now."

"Thank Kami," he groaned, "why the hell did I come again?"

"Because you rather graduate with us then another graduating class." Sakura teased, "Now let's go."

"Can someone _explain_ what is going on?" Ino asked again.

"This is Deidara," Sakura said as she fetched her lunch and Deidara stood, "He was suppose to be here in the beginning of the year, but he wasn't ready. Now he is."

"Sure," he sniffed, "Now where did that cat disappear to, yeah?"

"Oh, you mean that cute kitten, Teisei?" Ino asked, instantly warming.

"Yeah," Deidara said, looking about before looking up, "Teisei, get down."

The cat was laying happily on one of the rims of the molding, waving its tail lazily. It stared at him a while before yawning, hopping down and jumping upon his shoulder in a gentle nudge of affection.

"He was here the whole time?" Ino looked amazed, "Old' fuzz butt Akamaru didn't even notice him!"

"Of course," Deidara said with a sardonic smile, "That's why he's called whisper, yeah."

* * *

Time rolled by. Deidara came to class from that day on. Iruka never mentioned him and Sakura sitting in the same seat. He realized that Deidara needed her to stay calm.

Little by little he was getting use to the class and was no longer always keeping his head down and looking sick.

Sakura did as she was told. She pulled Naruto away for a while after school hours and began to show him the standard taijutsu that the Academy taught. He picked it up so quickly that is astounded her. She made note of it.

Deidara kept his promise and began to teach both boys kenjutsu. Sasuke was more interested in it then Naruto, but Deidara noticed that their teamwork was impeccable if he fought both of them at the same time. One was always striking at him and the other was preparing a counter to his attack.

Deidara showed them as much as he was willing to allow and let them use the dojo for whatever use they needed when they wanted to practice. He was spending less and less time outside, noticing the chill was threatening his health.

Sakura had to skip a few days of school to take care of him when he did catch a virus. The winter was not kind to him at all, but they were already use to that due to missions. He suffered a few days of severe ailment where she couldn't leave him at all, then quickly recover once his fever broke.

Ino, Hinata, and Sakura were now joined by Naruto, Sasuke, and Deidara for lunch. Hinata would always loose her voice when she tried to talk to Naruto, but he never realized that she had a crush on him. Sasuke had fun poking fun at him, until Ino would hit him and tell him how cute it was and that he better be sensitive to her friend's feelings.

Soon, Shikamaru was joining their group, pulling along Chouji who never went anywhere without his best friend. Shino was asked to join one day when Naruto noticed the boy sitting alone, and after that, he was repeatedly asked by all of them to join until he just began sitting down without being asked. Kiba and Akamaru eventually joined. Teisei and Akamaru had come to an understanding after the kitten had outwitted the puppy.

Naruto flourished the most from it. He would laugh and play with the others and truly enjoy himself. He was the first one other then Sakura who could touch Deidara without making him flinch. After that, it was almost like a game until Deidara learned the only way to get them to stop was to overcome his problem.

He was finally sitting in a different chair then Sakura and was comfortable with Naruto being right next to him. One of the students had dropped out before graduation and he got his seat. That was the day that Deidara learned about Naruto's crude handwriting. He spent the next few days fixing it because as an artist, he couldn't stand it.

Then he learned that Naruto also struggled with reading and promptly sat him in a chair next to Sakura and told her to deal with it as he went back to his own work.

Sasuke was always coming by now with or without looking for Naruto. They had begun merging their budget with Sakura and Deidara's and Sakura cooked for all of them.

They still visited Sarutobi, but not as often as they once had, being busy with their schooling and training. The Third even noticed that Naruto's pranks had decreased since his birthday.

Slowly, Sakura noticed, everything was coming together. She had friends again and Deidara and she were happy. It surprised her since she never thought she would be happy after the other Akatsuki members had left them here. She missed them very much, but she didn't feel lonely.

Spring came again. It had been a year. Deidara and Sakura were surprised when on her birthday, there were a bunch of packages outside for them. Sakura stared at the gifts when they realized that they were from their Akatsuki family. Both smiled. It must have been hard to sneak the gifts to them with Madara noticing.

Sakura had gotten her usual as did Deidara, getting another sword from Kisame that was just perfect for him with another long scroll of things for him to learn. Sakura added her puppet doll to her collection in her room and put her jewelry and scrolls away. Both were wary of Hidan's usual gifts to them though.

"I still don't get where he finds this stuff, yeah," Deidara said as he held up the shrunken head of some unfortunate soul.

"Just put it somewhere, I am not about to see it that kills trees too," Sakura told him as she found his gift from Kakuzu.

It was all about the cat.

"Well I'll be," Deidara said in an amused tone, "He's a rare breed indeed. Feline breed of summon cat, yeah. He is of the only kind that has no realm and lives with his chosen master. He will for a solid pact when he is old enough to speak. His silver eyes record things and if put in front of a bowl of water and the proper motions performed, he can show you what you want to know that he has seen."

He looked at the cat who was curled up in a ball, sleeping. He would try later, once he finished reading about him, that is.

Their friends came for a party, it being most of their first time in Deidara and Sakura's house and were thoroughly surprised.

"Man, for orphans you guys are loaded!" Kiba yelled as he took notice of it all.

"Oh!!! Sakura!! This plant is what I've been looking for forever! Please give me one!!" Ino had begged Sakura once she found the greenhouse upstairs. She had tried going into the other one, but that one was off limits.

The year went on and the group began to do a lot more together, usually spending a meal together at a grill and enjoying each other's company in their unusual way. Soon, the school year was ending and graduation day was in the morning.

Deidara groaned when he heard a tapping noise of the door downstairs. Teisei stirred from where he was sleeping on Deidara's bed and looked at his master.

"Fine, I'll get it," Deidara yawned heading down and opening the door with a sleepy rub of his eyes.

"Naruto?" He questioned as he looked at the little blonde shuffling.

"Hey… Deidara… I need some help." He muttered as he looked down at his feet.

"Shoot," Deidara yawned, scratching his cat who was on his shoulder.

"I can't to bushin no jutsu," he admitted sadly, "And I heard from Kiba who was told by Akamaru that it was on the test."

"You are relying on information from a dog, yeah?"

"The dog knows what he's talking about!" Naruto said with a huff, before getting sad again, "I don't want to fail for a third time."

"Wait, _third_," Deidara choked, "Naruto, how old were you when you started?"

"Six. Jiji-san said I had potential, but I messed up a lot and kids picked on me and teachers ignored me and I don't know why. I tried to learn how to do things, but they went so fast and I never felt as if I learned. Then when I was eight, teme came into the picture and he would help me." Naruto said in a sad tone, "But there's only so much the he knows… you and Sakura-chan know a lot more."

"That's because Sakura and I were actually trained, yeah," Deidara sighed, opening the door wide, "Into the dojo and let's see what we can do with you."

Naruto did as he was told. Deidara was never one to pay attention unless he was trying to teach something or on a mission, so he never once paid attention to Naruto's chakra control. He nearly fell over when he actually saw the chakra swirl around Naruto.

"What the hell!" He yelped as he steadied himself, "Naruto, how much chakra are you using? You're overloading the jutsu, yeah!"

"Really?" He asked, amazed, "But my clones always look dead."

"Try making- oh I don't know- ten thousand bushin with that much chakra! The basic clone genjutsu only needs a trickle of chakra. It is made for people with small chakra reserves, yeah."

He should have known Naruto had no clue what he was talking about, this was the only kid in the world who had mispronounced 'chakra' when he first talked to him about it.

"Okay," Deidara sighed, "You need a more potent bushin if you are _ever_ to pass."

"More potent?" Naruto questioned.

"Yes, or try to make as many as possible with as little chakra you can release."

"Alright…"

Naruto tried again, this time making twenty healthy clones instead of one overloaded one.

"Yatta!! I did it!!!" Naruto cheered as he bounced up into the air before latching onto Deidara with a hug. "Thank you thank you thank you!!! Maybe I can pass this year!"

"I hope so," Deidara said with a nod, before pulling him off, "Now go and get some rest. Good night, yeah."

"Night Aniki! You're the best." Naruto said happily as he dashed out the door, not noticing the surprised look on Deidara's face.

"Aniki?" He said in shock, smiling before too long.

Sure, why not?

He looked at Teisei on his shoulder who looked flustered by the hug.

"You and I have someone to go see," he told the cat before grabbing a coat and disappearing into the night air to go see the Hokage about a blond, a raven head, and a rosette.

* * *

"GRADUATION DAY!!" Naruto cheered as he sat down in his desk, "I can _feel_ it! Today is the day!"

He looked at Sasuke who was rolling his eyes, "Yeah, didn't you just bomb the test and screw up the spar?"

"No! I think I did good on the test and so what if I got licked by Mizuki-sensei? I passed the accuracy and physical skills, all I need is to pass _one_ more things and I'm a shoo in for sure, DATTEBAYO!"

"Shut up Dobe."

"Make me teme!"

"Shut up both of you or you'll regret it," Deidara hissed as he pulled his head up from where he was resting it in his arms, "I'm trying to sleep."

"Hey Aniki, did you pass everything with flying colors?"

"I better have, I'm not taking this again. I am sixteen, darn it, I should be out there already."

"Ah, come on, you'd rather be with us than with kids your age." Naruto said as he patted him on the back.

Deidara harrumphed, dipping his head back down and ignoring the blonde. Sakura had already gone and graduated with top scores. Sasuke had graduated already, but he was sticking to his anti-girl magnet. He was just waiting since his name was dead last because he had no surname…

Well, none that he would give willingly.

"Since when did you call him Aniki?" Sasuke asked him, rather confused.

"Since yesterday when I realized he's our big brother in our family."

"When did we become a family?" Sasuke asked again.

"Since my birthday!"

"Dobe."

"TEME!"

"Shut_ up,_ yeah!"

"Uzumaki Naruto." Iruka called out.

"Thank kami!" Deidara yelled throwing up his hands.

"Don't fail dobe, I am not about to put up with you if you fail."

Naruto went in and both watched. He came back out very soon with a sad look on his face. He looked up and tried to smile, but he couldn't. He dashed out.

"Deidara," Iruka called.

"Go find him," Deidara told the Uchiha, before getting up and walking to Iruka, growling "I will be talking to you after this. You better believe it, yeah."

He passed without a problem. He had not gotten top scores, but that was what he had planned. He bombed the physical and written on purpose to give him an advantage of the unknown. Mizuki had disappeared by then, which was strange in Deidara's book.

He asked what Naruto had done wrong, and apparently he had not only bombed the written and spar, but the physical and accuracy as well. Deidara questioned it, just to discover that the scores had been tampered with.

When he came back out, Sasuke was standing there shaking his head, "I can't find him."

"The little devil can hide, that's for sure," Deidara grounded out, "If he can make the whole ANBU guard chase after him after pulling a massive prank in broad daylight on the Hokage Monument; he's a hard one to catch. He passed. The scores were messed with. I have a good suspicion that it was Mizuki, yeah."

"Mizuki?" Sasuke asked, "I just saw him, he said he hadn't seen Naruto."

Deidara let out a string of curses as he went to find Sakura who was playing moral support to Hinata with Ino.

"Hey!" He yelled when he saw the three of them walking down the street, Sasuke right behind him. "Sakura, Ino, Hinata."

"Yes, Deidara?" Sakura asked, pausing where she stood.

"Someone rigged the test and made it so Naruto looked like he flunked again, yeah. I think I it was Mizuki cause now he and Naruto can't be found. I don't know what he told him, but it can't be good."

Sakura paused. Something had always been off about Mizuki to her. Just the way he felt to her.

"Hinata, do you think you could spot him?" Sakura asked, turning to the raven heiress.

She tried, but he was too far for her eyes. She paused for a moment, then thought up something.

"My sister," She said, "She has better range than me. If we can convince her to do it, she will."

"Good. Uchiha, go with Hinata, get her sister, Ino, go get Shika, Cho, Kiba, and Shino and tell them what is up. I will talk to Iruka about what's happening and Deidara…" She paused as she looked at him, "Search everywhere possible. The sky, the forest, the mountains! Fly if possible, just _find_ him."

"My pleasure," Deidara said as he rotated his wrists and let out a couple cracks from doing so.

Everyone scattered, doing as they were told.

Sasuke took Hinata home, running after her as she found her sister walking out of the gardens.

"Hanabi," She said in the strongest tone she had ever spoken with, "Hanabi, I need you to help me."

Hanabi looked at her for a second before asking, "What is it Onee?"

"We need you to look for Uzumaki Naruto," Sasuke cut in, looking at her with a sense of urgency.

She looked up at Sasuke, looking at the handsome boy, blushing a little when she suddenly felt very nervous, "Alright. What does he look like…"

Hinata was shocked. Usually when she asked something of Hanabi, it was like pulling teeth. She would usually hear the request then spend hours making you work for it. Hinata looked at Sasuke then back at Hanabi. She smiled slightly as she realized that Hanabi had a crush on Sasuke.

"Alright Hanabi-chan," Hinata said, "Naruto has one of the most massive charka reserves you'll ever see in a small figure."

"Okay," Hanabi said, closing her eyes and focusing, muttering 'Byakugan' under her breath and opening her eyes to look.

* * *

Night had fallen a while ago and Naruto was out in the forest, hard at work. He had mastered the Kage no Bushin jutsu with ease and had been glancing at the scroll with much interest. He recognized this as something Deidara was always studying, telling him that it was called seals. They looked really cool!

That was about when Iruka showed up, ending his fun. He rolled up the scroll and looked up with a gleeful smile to his sensei.

"Aw, looks like you caught me! But I already learned a jutsu, so do I graduate?" He asked rather excited.

"Naruto, what are you talking about? Why did you steal the forbidden scroll?" Iruka demanded.

It was then that Mizuki came and began to clear all the fog that surrounded Naruto's world.

* * *

"I found him, Onee," Hanabi said as she pulled back, "He is in the forest area southeast. He looks like he isn't alone. Two chuunins by the looks of it. There was another person coming, but it was by air and there was also another small figure. I almost mistook her for him, until I realized it was a girl."

"Arigato, Hanabi-chan," Hinata said before turning around, "Come on Sasuke-san, we need to go."

"Right," he said, before looking over his shoulder and nodding, "Thanks, Hanabi."

"N-no problem," She whispered as she watched both of them take off.

Sasuke and Hinata found Ino with the rest of the gang they were following his scent. He just hoped Naruto was okay when they got there.

All of them were eventually stopped by Sakura, who had gotten there a while ago. She shushed them as they watched what was about to transpire.

"Naruto, there's no point to you having that scroll so give it here," Mizuki grinned.

"Don't give it to him Naruto; he tricked you so you could get him that scroll. It is a scroll filled with forbidden ninjutsu and he was just using you to get it!"

"Why? Why Mizuki-sensei?" Naruto pleaded with a rueful look.

"Why? I'll tell you why! I'll tell you what no one else will tell you!"

"N-No Don't!!" Iruka yelled in alarm.

"12 years ago…you know about the fox demon being sealed right?" Mizuki started with a large grin on his face.

Naruto froze. What did the Kyuubi no Yoko have to do with this incident?

Sakura felt sick from her spot. She glanced at all the others to see that they were frozen just like Naruto was. Didn't they know?

"Since that incident," He continued on, "A new rule was created for this village…"

"…a rule?" Naruto managed to choke out.

"But, Naruto, this rule was not meant to be told to you or anyone your age."

"Why not? What is this rule anyways!" Naruto yelled in confusion.

Mizuki began to chuckle slightly to himself and eventually look at Naruto with great malice, "The rule is that nobody is allowed to talk about the fact that you are the Demon Fox."

"Huh?" Naruto let out at the same time the others other then Sakura looked at each other with absolute confusion.

"What…What do you mean?" Naruto asked as he began to back up.

"He shouldn't be telling Naruto this…" Sakura's eyes widened as she saw signs of him reaching his breaking point, her eyes turning to Sasuke, "he won't recover."

None of the other teens moved. All still absorbing the shock. She needed to fix this and fix it now. Her mind was reeling as she tired to think up something that would stop the pain, stop Naruto from getting anymore hurt than he already was.

"STOP IT!" Iruka futilely yelled out.

That didn't stop Mizuki; he was on a roll. "It means that you are the nine tails demon that killed Iruka's parents and destroyed the village. You were sealed up by the hokage that you admire and…!"

"STOP IT!" Iruka yelled again.

"YOU HAVE BEEN LIED TO BY EVERYONE!" Mizuki finished his sentence, "Didn't you find it odd how everyone hated you? IRUKA IS THE SAME! HE ACTUALLY HATES YOU!!!"

Mizuki then began to prepared to kill Naruto, who was seemingly losing control at the moment of all emotions as be began to curse to himself. 'Naruto,' Iruka thought as he made a quick decision as Mizuki finished up his monologue.

"NO BODY WILL EVER ACCEPT YOU!! THAT SCROLL WAS USED TO SEAL YOU UP!" He finished up and threw the oversized shuriken.

Something swooped down last minute and caught the oversized weapon.

"Didn't your mother ever tell you not to tell _lies_?" Deidara's voices echoed through the forest.

Sakura smiled as she let out a sigh of relief. He had come just in time, riding in on an old favorite model of his clay birds.

"Come on, we need to help before Naruto goes past his breaking point," Sakura whispered as she looked at them all, adding one last thing, "You are his friends, aren't you? Well I am!"

She was about to go alone when someone caught her wrist. It was Sasuke.

"Tell us what to do," he whispered to her, the others looking as confident as he was.

"I am not lying," Mizuki seethed, "He is the fox demon!!"

Iruka was next to Naruto, tense as he looked at Deidara with worried eyes.

"No," Deidara said as he shook his head, "I know what a jinchuuriki is. I am from Iwa, we had one too." He was looking at Naruto, he was telling him the truth. "Namikaze Minato was the greatest seals master other then his master. He made you a jinchuuriki, yeah. You are the jail that holds the prisoner. Don't believe anything anyone else tells you, Naruto, you are _not_ the Kyuubi."

"And how would a stupid kid like you _know_ anything like that? Hmmmm?" Mizuki yelped, readying another large shuriken.

"Because," he turned around to face the man, "Unlike you, I actually was actually trained by the best."

"Yeah right, you sleep all day in class!" Mizuki scoffed.

"Sure," Deidara shrugged, "But I train all the rest of the time, yeah."

With that he jumped off his bird, directing it towards the sky and detonated it, giving the ANBU direction. Then he took the weapon he had stolen and threw it back, moving Mizuki in the direction of the next attack.

"And you forget, Mizuki-teme," Deidara growled, "That I have a partner."

Before he could even ask, he felt something rip through him. He turned to notice the short pink hair that wisped in the night like a glowing halo. She had buried her kodachi into his side, next to his spine. She smiled as she pulled it up, hearing him scream.

"Don't mess with my family," She growled as she took her hand, grabbing his neck and snapping his jaw into an open position.

"We don't take to it very well," Deidara said with a dark grin crossing his features, "Trust me, Hime hates it when people attack her family. Just ask the others rotting in hell when you get there."

He put his hand over the open mouth and dropped something in there, his mouth on his hand finally exposing itself to the rest world after a year of being hidden.

"Close your eyes everyone," Deidara told everyone who was around, "I don't want you to see this."

"Do it," Sakura barked, "turn away for now."

Iruka then realized that all the others in Naruto's gang of friends were there. Each of them approached Naruto who hadn't moved and turned away, helping Iruka do the same with Naruto.

Sakura pulled away, but not until she snapped his neck making it impossible to move.

"Eat clay and die," Deidara hissed, "Katsu!"

Even though they had not looked, the flash of light was brilliant. Lighting up the darkness of the forest with the wonderful flash of pure white light. There wasn't even the smell of blood or a corpse when Sakura and Deidara finally allowed them to turn around.

"It's alright now," Sakura said soothingly.

She approached Naruto and gave him a hug, "It's alright."

"But…" His voice cracked, "I… what am I?"

"You are a hero," Deidara said, taking over the conversation for a moment, "Mizuki got it wrong, yeah. You are not the fox or a demon. You might be prone to being a pretty good trickster and have better senses, but you are not the Kyuubi."

"Yeah Naruto," Kiba said, giving him a pat on the back, "You are the most wicked awesome guy I know! I mean who else can smell as well as me?"

"Or enjoy food as much as I do?" Chouji added with a happy nod.

"It's too troublesome to try to develop a sense of admosity towards you," Shikamaru shrugged.

"I hold a hive of Kikkai bugs within my body, why should I look down upon you for doing the same with a fox?" Shino told him with a nod.

"I-I don't think you a-are a m-monster, Naruto-kun… I ad-admire you." Hinata said as she played with her hands nervously.

"I don't see why you believe everything people say, Naruto, honestly everything gets taken out of proportion in gossip, I should know!" Ino said, "And I can honestly say you are not a demon!"

Sasuke was the last one who had yet to say anything. He looked like he was thinking about it. He paused for a moment longer in thought before motioning Naruto closer, which he did. Right when he got close enough, Sasuke took his two fingers and poked him in the forehead, hard.

"Don't take everything people out there say to heart. They don't know you. They don't know anything about you and they suffer for it." Sasuke said, "So, no more looking sad, it's bugging me."

Iruka seemed to be assessing over something as he gave his thought a nod. He turned to Naruto with a serious expression.

"Close your eyes Naruto." He ordered.

The kid complied as he immediately shut his eyes. Everyone withheld a gasp as they saw Iruka take his Hitai-ite off and put it around Naruto's head gently.

"Can I open my eyes yet?" He asked as he seemingly squirmed.

"Yes, you may," Iruka said with a smile.

It took Naruto only a minute to figure out what had happened and began to dance with delight. He had finally passed his genin exam.

"By the way Naruto," Iruka said, trying to lighten the mood, "I don't hate you. I was looking for you to tell you that you had passed! Mizuki had failed you on false marks. You passed with flying colors!"

"Yatta!! Yatta!!" Naruto cheered, pointing to Sasuke with a arrogant grin, "I told you, Teme, that I was going to pass I _told_ you! My next step is to be HOKAGE!!"

"You wanna _what_?!?" Deidara and Sakura both yelled at the same time.

In the whole year that they had known Naruto, he never had mentioned this.

"Great, I was hoping he had quit that when were eight," Sasuke groaned, "I thought the Hokage made him change his mind when he made him do paperwork!"

"Okay, _maybe_ not Hokage _just_ yet, but I want to be the greatest Ninja out there!!!" Naruto cheered, "We all should try!"

"Sure why not, right Akamaru?"

"Arf!"

"I'm in if everyone else is in and I get to be the fabulous one!"

"I-I will try my very best."

"Che, so troublesome, but what the heck."

"If there's good food along the way!"

"I am willing to input the work and effort to attain the goal."

"Sounds like an ambition I could live up to."

"Well somebody's going to have to be there to patch you guys up!"

"Ah, what the hell, yeah? As long as I get to make a bang."

"Mew!"

"Oh, _there_ you are Teisei. Did you record everything like I asked, yeah."

"Purrrrrrrrr."

With that, on that dark night that should have gone terrible wrong, a pact was made.

Friends reaching to be the best…

And who knows who else would join the pact?

Only time would tell.

* * *

Ages at the end of the chapter:

Sakura-12

Deidara-15

Naruto- 12

Sasuke- 12

I mentioned all their ages in the stories, but, well, just incase you couldn't remember.

Remember:

Itachi put Sasuke under a genjutsu that replayed all the memories that Itachi had of him and Sasuke. The whole Eyes unclouded by hate thing too. He's still quiet and darker than Naruto, but not hateful. Kinda like all those non-massacre stories. Same Sasuke before he went crazy with revenge!

Thankies! -_bows_- Please take care of this story!

Ja Ne

Volleys-chan


	14. Chapter 14

Greetings.

Not much to say other than thanks for all the reviews! I know I have irritated you all with the long waiting of this chapter update, but I didn't know where I was going for a while and I had to think of the chuunin exams and what I wanted from Naruto and Sasuke since Sakura and Deidara look different, I thought maybe they should too. And since Sasuke has a nice attitude that his attire should change accordingly. He's still quiet and keeps to himself, but he's not all obsessive over things like everyone else makes him (Sasuke is my least favorite next to Madara and Danzo BTW in the canon)

So, I think I figured that out...

Oh, and for Bulma Vegeta fans that read my Naruto stories. I have a new one called _'The Setting Sun'_ go read it. It'll knock your socks off.

Enjoy

* * *

_**Hummingbird**_

Chapter 14

_Team 7_

* * *

**Disclaimer: Do not own Naruto**

* * *

Deidara groaned when the alarm went off. He hit it hard, before his hand snuck back into his covers. He was tired still from all the explaining he had done last night in the Hokage's office. He had blown cover when he said he was from Iwa and had to get the story straight with the rest of his friends. They all promised not to blow it, but sometimes, the way Ino and Naruto rambled, he wondered.

"Deidara, time to get up," Sakura said as she entered his room after a couple knocks.

"Tired," he mumbled as he pulled the blanket up higher.

Sakura approached him and rested her hand on his head that was under the covers.

"You feel a little warm," She told him, pulling away, "Alright, get some sleep and I'll bring you some breakfast. This better not develop into anything Deidara."

"Tired, not sick," he tried to refute, but was too sleepy.

He eventually heard people making noise downstairs. He muttered darkly when he heard the door swing wide open, too loud to be Sakura.

"Hey! Aniki!" Naruto said with a smile in his voice, "We have a whole week off before we have to go back for teams!"

"Yay." Deidara said dryly as he pulled the covers up further.

"Sakura-chan says you aren't feeling well, so I am suppose to keep an eye on you just incase you need anything, dattebayo. Anything at all and I go get it!" Naruto told him, pulling up a chair rather noisily.

Deidara gritted his teeth as he clenched his eyes closed.

"Wow, your room is filled with stuff. I have never seen so many things! I mean did you make all of those artsy stuff? And what about these scrolls? I mean, what do you study? I thought you were a fighter, not a bookworm like Saku-"

"Naruto!" Deidara finally yelled as he sat up throwing the blanket onto his lap, "It is very hard for me to sleep when you are talking so much, yeah!"

Deidara regretted his harsh tone when he saw Naruto's expression slowly melt into a sad, guilty face.

"I'm sorry," he said, making Deidara feel even worse, "I've just never seen your room before."

"Yeah, well, its fine," Deidara huffed out, "I am just cranky in the morning, yeah. Don't mind me, alright? I just need some time to wake up. Continue what you were saying."

His mood was instantly better, "I was just wondering if you really have read all those scrolls."

Deidara laid back but didn't try to sleep just yet.

"Yes, I've read them all and go back to them repeatedly. Most of those are scrolls on the art of seals, but some of them are about swords and things I need for my apprenticeship."

"You are an apprentice? To who?"

"I am an apprentice of a swordsman," Deidara told him calmly, "Though I might be here, I still am practicing what he gave me. I have all the katas and movements down, yeah. I just need practice, experience, and a master's touch"

"Cool! Who's your teacher? Is he famous?" Naruto looked like he was going to pee himself with excitement.

"Yes, he is famous, no, I can't tell you his name, yeah. No, Sakura won't tell you either, just like she won't tell you _her_ sensei's name." Deidara said with a yawn, "Anything else?"

"Yeah, what was Teisei doing last night when he rested his mouth in the water and stared at it while you did that weird jutsu?"

"He was replaying all the events that he had seen of what Mizuki had done." Deidara told him, "That's one of his specialties, yeah."

"So cool!" Naruto said enthusiastically, "I want to get an animal just like him now!"

"It might be a little hard, yeah." Deidara told him as he found the cat in all his covers and began to pet him, "I got him as a gift. He is a rare breed."

"Why would someone give you him and not keep him themselves?" Naruto questioned.

"Because even though the man is the most stingiest money hoarder, he likes spoiling Sakura and I on rare occasion, yeah." Deidara told him with a chuckle, "You should see the jewelry that Sakura has, some of the finest gemstones in the world belong to her."

"Really?" His eyes were getting wider, "But then, if you had senseis and masters and guys who spoiled you with rare gifts… why are you living in Konoha without them?"

"That's not to be talked about Naruto," Deidara snapped, narrowing his eyes, "Whatever you do, never- ever- ask Sakura that, yeah. She lived with all of them since she was eight. I came when I was thirteen. The blow was softer to me."

"You mean…"

"Sakura still hurts from it, yeah." Deidara nodded, "So… never ask unless it pertains to something life threatening."

"Alright Aniki!" Naruto said with a big smile, "You can count on me!"

"I'm counting on it."

* * *

It turned out that Deidara was just fine, just fatigued from the events that had occurred. He had been the first one to start looking for Naruto and was the last one to go to bed after making sure each and every member of their group got home safely.

Now, after a week had gone by, he was awake, energetic, and sitting rather bored like next to Naruto wearing yet another Hitia-ite. If he kept this up, he was going to have a small collection of them.

"I am sooooo excited to know who I've got on my team. I hope its…. Kiba and… Hinata cause she's really cool!"

"Hmm? What about me and old Sasuke here?" Deidara questioned.

"Well, teams come in three, so I know for a fact no one is stupid enough to separate you and Sakura and teme is the Rookie of the Year apparently, so he would no doubt be on your team." Naruto said as he rubbed his head.

"Ah, but none of you bothered to try to invoke the old medic movement that Senju Tsunade had suggested during her time here, yeah." Deidara said with a grin, "That would make one team have four members."

Naruto and Sasuke stared at him, "Who?"

Deidara smacked his head on the desk before raising it again and yelling at the two, "What do you mean _'who'_! I am talking about one of the Sannin! You know, the three most powerful shinobi of all time, yeah! All _three_ are from Konoha!"

"Who are the Sannin?" Naruto questioned, cocking his head to the side, "Are they super powerful like the Hokage?"

"Pretty much any of them could _be_ the next Hokage." Deidara explained as he took a deep breath, "They are the three most powerful shinobi, only lowering their heads to the Hokage- or at least they use to, yeah. Then Orochimaru- the snake Sannin- turned against Konoha in a lust for power and youth. Shortly after him, Tsunade- the slug Sannin- left because yet another one of her loved ones died. She use to be the greatest medic in the world- still probably is if it wasn't for her hemophobia."

"What's hemo-hemo…ph…obia?"

"The fear of blood," Sasuke answered for Deidara, "Doesn't that defeat the purpose of being a medic?"

"Yeah, it does. She had suggested the idea of four man teams with three shinobi and one medic shinobi. So if they got in trouble there would be a medic to heal their wounds. The act was over looked, yeah. They were short on hand at the time, but not anymore." Deidara finished explaining, "She also is known for her bad gambling habit. She loses so many times that she is known as 'The Legendary Sucker'."

"What happens when she wins?"

"Nothing good, that's for sure. She's won only a few seasons in her life and during those times her brother and lover died, yeah."

"Oh…"

It got quiet for a moment before Naruto mustered up the courage to ask about the third Sannin.

"He is the master of seals," Deidara told him with a sigh, "He also is the number one pervert in all the lands. Jiraiya the Toad Sage, yeah. He knows what he's doing when in battle, but…"

"Outside of battle he peeps on woman in the bathhouse and is the known writer of Icha Icha series," Sakura finished from where she sat, "It would be horrible to ever meet him."

"He did do one thing right though," Deidara said with a weak smile, "Namikaze Minato was his student, yeah."

"Alright, sit down and shut up!" Iruka yelled from the front.

All eyes went on him, even his usual two pairs that never, ever paid attention. Iruka began his speech. Telling them what an honor he had to teach them and how he loved every single one and hoped them to accomplish their dreams, promptly afterwards he began to read off names. He finally got to the first team with any of their names.

"Team seven: This one is going to be a trail team, going to be invoking the Medic movement. This team consists of Deidara, Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto, and as the in-training medic, Haruno Sakura."

Naruto let out the hugest whoop of joy when he heard that latching onto his two closest teammates, "We're all a team!"

"No duh, yeah," Deidara whispered, "I thought ahead and invoked the movement. Unlike some blondes, I am actually smart, yeah."

"Alright, next is Team eight: Aburame Shino, Hyuuga Hinata, and Inuzuka Kiba. Team nine is still in circulation. Team Ten is Akimichi Chouji, Nara Shikamaru, and Yamanaka Ino. Alright, go have lunch off and come back to be collected by your new Jounin instructors." Iruka said, a second before the bell rang.

"Okay, he's good," Deidara said with an impressed look.

The gang of ten all ate out for lunch at an Akimichi run grill. It was the best one around and Chouji told everyone to eat their fill. It was the last time they would all be able to hang out together like this and he wanted to do something special for them all. A small eating contest started between Naruto, Deidara, and Chouji. Chouji won hands down, but it had been close with both Deidara and Naruto being able to consume so much.

Afterwards, they headed back and each group was picked up…

Well… all except Team 7.

"You'd think that the number 7 was lucky, yeah." Deidara complained as he brushed his hair out.

He had gotten bored a while ago and began to groom his hair out of habit.

"Where _is_ he?" Naruto whined with a longsuffering groan.

"We had to get the one that's late," Sasuke snuffed, "I would prefer to have a sickenly hard teacher to this."

"Had one," both Sakura and Deidra chimed together before Sakura groaned louder than all of them.

"Nooooo! It couldn't be _him_ could it?"

Deidra looked at her, she was sitting in his lap, before pausing himself and letting out a unhappy sound, "He wouldn't, would he? I mean _come on_! I only asked for us to be together, yeah! Why _him_?"

"Why who?" Both Naruto and Sasuke asked, both looking interested.

"Hatake Kakashi," Sakura and Deidara responded.

"He's known as the Copy Cat, having copied thousands of jutsus with his Sharingan eye." Deidara started.

"But he has this chronic tardiness problem and is _very_ lazy."

"_Sharingan_ eye?" Sasuke questioned.

"Chronic _tardiness_?" Naruto asked.

"Yep." Both answered.

"He is the only non member of the Uchiha clan to have one, yeah. It's said his friend gave it to him before he died as a gift for becoming a jounin at the age of 13. His other teammate died shortly afterwards, yeah."

"So now, he picked up his old friend's habit of being late, but to the extreme of being late for hours." Sakura finished with a sigh, "He is the student of Namikaze Minato and the biggest fan of Icha Icha…"

Naruto looked worried, on one hand, the guy sounded cool… on the other…

"Are you two _sure_ it is him?"

"We have the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi, the last Uchiha, a foreigner from Iwa, and the princess of a dangerous group of men." Deidara whined, "No duh it's going to be Kakashi, yeah."

All of them looked at each other before letting out a unified, "We're screwed."

* * *

Indeed, it was Kakashi. He had come in, told them to meet on the roof and then asked for all their names, and the general likes and dislikes and goal of the future thing.

He had gone first, not telling them anything in return, but Naruto and Sasuke had already figured him out because of the info Deidara and Sakura had supplied.

Naruto was the first one to go.

"I am Uzumaki Naruto! I like hanging out with my friends, playing with Teisei, learning anything that is usable for battle, Sakura's cooking, and ramen. I hate the amount of time it takes to cook ramen, when people judge me for something I have no control over, and chronically late lazy people. My goal is to become the strongest ninja around and possibly Hokage! Dattebayo!"

Next was Sasuke.

"I am Uchiha Sasuke. I enjoy spars, fights, learning kenjutsu, and my friends. I dislike most civilians, not gaining anything from a fight, and being no use in a battle. I don't really have a goal other then to live life with eyes unclouded by hate. I can't explain it really well, but it has been my dream to be able to see the world without malice, so I can see it for itself."

Then it was Sakura's.

"Well since everyone else is opening up their hearts a bit, I guess I could too. My name is Haruno Sakura. I once lived in Konoha but left for four years. My hobbies are collecting rare dolls, being a medic, poisons, botany, learning about rare kekkei genkais, and being with my friends. I dislike it when people mention my height problem, being told I am too little to be something great, being underestimated, and when they waste my precious time." Insert hard glare. "My goal is to become the greatest kunoichi of all time as well as one of the greatest medics known to man."

Finally, it was Deidara's turn.

"I guess since Hime is being honest, I should at least be honest with my teammates." He said, raising his hands and exposing the mouths, "My full name is Deidara of the Gashu clan. I come from Iwa, but the Hokage already knows that, yeah." He closed up the mouths for now and set his hands in his lap. "I enjoy many things. I like art, discussing the philosophy of art, explosions, kenjutsu, learning in general, my cat, and training. Lots and lots of training. I hate it when people think me weak. I refuse to be weak. I hate it when people waste my time." Insert dark glare. "And I dislike the Jashinist religion, yeah. My goal is simple: to continue defying my fate."

Kakashi… he just blinked. Several times.

What the hell did he just sign up for?

Okay… let's see… One Jinchuuriki- check. One Uchiha- check.

But the Princess of the Akatsuki? And not only that, but her partner and also heir to the most powerful bloodline Iwa had to offer? (he had been told a little by the Hokage before coming.)

He didn't remember those being on the list originally.

And what was up with Ramen? Or the 'eyes unclouded by hate' thing? Or the collecting dolls as a hobby? Or the Jashinist religion? Or even the whole 'defy my fate' thing?

Great. He was never going late to the sign ups again. Who knew what he would get next time!

"Okay…" He finally said, "I am guessing that the hands are a secret?"

"Yes," Deidara nodded, "I would prefer it if you told no one about them, yeah."

"Alright." Kakashi looked at them a little strangely, "Well, on to other matters. A survival test!"

"What?"

None of them looked thrilled at all.

Not even the cat that had appeared in Deidara's lap.

… yeah… being late to sign-ups was a _bad, **bad**_ idea.

* * *

Okay, if he _ever_ got the chance to back away from the position that he had decided to take as a sensei, there was no doubt in his mind that he was going to take it and join ANBU again. There was no way in hell he was going to be a Jounin sensei ever, _ever_ again.

They had passed. It freaked him out. First, he thought it adorable when he got there and all of them were angry at him being, oh… Three hours late.

He had gone to look at their home lives while they were out and about. Naruto and Sasuke's house was easy enough to break into and look around. He thought it strange that two boys were so meticulously clean. Their kitchen had some food in it, but mostly snacks. It appeared as though they ate elsewhere for big meals.

Other then that, there was the random katana that Naruto had and a few scrolls that Sasuke had from his family's stash, but not anything too impressive.

Then, he had made the mistake of trying to break into Sakura and Deidara's house. He at first tsked at the idea of a boy living with a girl, but the inner Icha Icha reader in him hoped for interesting developments in their relationship. When he had tried breaking in, no matter where he tried to enter from, he would somehow set off a trap. It had gotten to the point of insanity!

How many traps did they need!

He finally gave up and went to the Hokage. Apparently, all you needed was the right house key- which Sarutobi had. He kept chucking at him for trying to break in to two ex-Akatsuki member's home. It was like suicide, he had told him.

Sarutobi took the time to show him around, warning him of the poisonous greenhouse and such. He showed him the kitchen, which was well stocked- he now knew where Naruto and Sasuke ate. He even showed him Deidara's and Sakura's rooms.

Okay, he had thought her kidding with the whole doll collection, but apparently she had about twenty or so dolls in her room. What scared him most was her closet filled with the most frilliest girl cloths he had ever seen. It confused him because according to her senseis, she hardly wore anything that wasn't a button up shirt and a skirt or pair of slacks with suspenders.

Very confusing.

Deidara's room looked like a mixture of order and chaos. His room looked chaotic, but everything was neat and orderly in its own way. The floor was easily seen and he kept everything clean, but his bookshelves had things practically shoved into them, yet all of them were in some sort of order. He really did like explosions and not just the 'bang' kind apparently, it was all kinds.

So finally, he headed out to see his lovely little genins. They had been quite angry with him but he didn't seem to think anything of it. He told them the rules and began the test. To his surprise all four didn't budge.

He was about to ask them what was wrong, but they all looked at each other before finally disappearing. He just stood there, thinking him soooo smart. But then it happened.

Apparently, Deidara was actually _good_ at making explosions and he had actually made all the seals that decorated his home. Because the moment Kakashi moved, he set one off.

It had scared the crap out of him. He had barely managed to move out of the way. He couldn't believe it but he set off another trap. It was like trap after trap and soon he felt humiliated for setting too many off.

After barely making it out of the bomb traps, he fell into a hole, or more like a large ditch. When he came out Sasuke attacked him immediately with a huge fireball and Naruto attacked him with clones…

SHADOW CLONES!

Sakura was the one that grabbed him first. He could feel his arm snap under her crushing grip, he never knew that she was this strong! He managed to pull away, but Deidara was next. He used the mouths on his hands to bite into the flesh so he couldn't pull away without missing a chunk. That even ruled out a substitution jutsu.

He didn't know when, but somehow he managed to pull up his headband and managed to get away.

"You are really are a surprising bunch," Kakashi said in the lowest care-less tone he could keep, but he was razzled, "I didn't think I would have to use this on you."

"To late anyways," Deidara shrugged, holding up one of two bells, "We got them already, yeah."

His cat was on his shoulder staring at Kakashi with a pleased look.

"One for Hime and I," Deidara mused, "and one for Naruto and Sasuke."

He and Sakura held theirs up and Naruto and Sasuke held theirs up.

"Sharing is caring," Naruto said before laughing happily.

"You… figured it out?" Kakashi looked really surprise.

He would have thought that Naruto would try and prove himself, Sasuke would be arrogant and snotty like Uchihas were suppose to be like, and Sakura n' Deidara would refuse to work with anyone but themselves. But it seemed they were better friends than he thought. He cradled his broken arm as he stared at them lamely.

"You know," Deidara mused happily, "You shouldn't of given us _three_ hours to prepare for this test, yeah."

"Especially since we went around and asked everyone else what they did for theirs, dattebayo," Naruto sniggered.

"By the way," Sakura said with a glare, "How dare you try to break into our homes?"

Kakashi looked confused, so Sasuke elated on it.

"Teisei was assigned to watch you until it saw you heading back." He shrugged, "Teamwork for us isn't too hard."

"Yeah! You can't break up a family like us!" Naruto cheered happily.

Kakashi watched as the other three people nodded and showed their happiness in their own ways. He had never thought that it was possible to ever have a team this rooted in teamwork in the very beginning. The ones before them paled and faded in comparison.

So for the first time in his entire 'sensei' career…

"You four… pass." Kakashi told them, half smiling under his mask as he watched them all hoot and hollar with happiness, even Sasuke cracking a smile and bumping his fists against the others'.

"Alright!" Naruto cheered as he continued to rejoice, "Our first official step in becoming the greatest shinobi around! Dattebayo! Who wants ramen? Kakashi-sensei definitely has to pay since we did such an amazing job!"

"I second it," Sakura yelled.

"I as well," Deidara said with a creul smirk on his face as he looked at Kakashi.

"Of course," Sasuke shrugged, "It's only proper since he decided to give himself a tour of our homes without permission."

Kakashi sighed. Darn it. They just weaseled a free meal out of him…

And from what he heard, Deidara and Naruto eat _a lot_ of ramen.

There goes a month's pay in one sitting.

Well, hopefully Sakura was willing to heal up his arm, because if he had to go to the hospital and _explain_ how his arm had been broken…

He didn't think he would be able to live that down.

_I mean come on, her hair is pink and she's not even five feet!_ Kakashi ranted to himself as he kept pressure on his break, _I would never be able to live that down with the ANBU._

Once again he made a mental note to never be late to sign-ups… EVER!

* * *

Sakura peered around the garden as she sat snuggly on her little chair. Naruto and Sasuke were currently with her and Deidara enjoying the night sky from the windows of the greenhouse. It was almost amazing how much time had gone by.

She had once considered her only family Akatsuki. She had seen no one else and never had been lonely even though she was the only one around her age. Then, Deidara had come into her life and it felt like all the colors in her life suddenly were amplified and she was seeing the world like never before. She had explored all sorts of areas, seen the world pretty much, with Deidara as her teammate and it made her already wonderful life better.

Sakura had felt almost abandoned when her and Deidara had first been brought to Konoha and had felt dulled again, sorrow filling her heart because she had lost her only family because they wanted to protect her from a psychopath… well… a bigger psychopath than any of them were.

But soon she and Deidara had discovered Naruto and Sasuke and made friends with Ino and Hinata and Shikamaru and Chouji and Kiba and Shino and everything was alright again. Her world felt wonderful again. She had a smaller family now with the last Uchiha of Konoha and the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi. The four of them were family now and that made her so happy.

"Neh, Sakura-chan?" Naruto's voice pulled her out of her musings.

"Yes Naruto-kun?"

"What do you think we are going to do starting tomorrow? Do you think we will get super cool missions and save princesses and stuff?"

Sakura almost laughed. She remembered what it was like when her and Deidara had been given their first mission, but she had a feeling this was going to be even more simplified than their first official one. It might have been more like her fetching Kisame his sake from the nearest village.

"No Naruto, we have to work our way up." Sakura said, "If anything, they will be chores that people need help with."

"I just hope we don't get stuck babysittin' brats," Deidara shivered, "That will be like a living hell, yeah."

Sasuke nodded his agreement.

"Hey, Sakura," Sasuke finally spoke, "What's out there?"

"Out where Sasuke?"

"Of Konoha."

Sakura paused for a second before looking at Deidara, "I think Dei could answer that better than I can. I only began to see the world when I was ten or so. Deidara was the one who traveled everywhere before he met me."

So Sasuke looked at Deidara. All eyes were on him actually as he pondered what to say.

"The world is big, yeah." He began, "In a shinobi village, you see only the village in your childhood. You think that your world is already the perfect size or large already, but the moment you step out of the gates, out of the safety of the village, you realize that the world is so much bigger than just your tiny little village. There are so many places with different people and different clothes and food. The cultures are vast. And that's without even getting close to the ocean, yeah. If anything, the world outside of Konoha will make it look small and almost insignificant."

He paused, taking a moment to let that soak in with Naruto and Sasuke while scratching Teisei behind the ear.

"Does that answer your question, yeah?"

Sasuke nodded a little as he stared out into the vast skies.

"I'd like to see it." He finally said after a pregnant silence.

"The world is beautiful, and even though some people can sometimes be heinous, don't let them ruin your perception of everyone else, yeah."

"Hn." Sasuke grunted in affirmation.

"Hey, Aniki, how do you know so much!"

"I read Naruto. I think it would be a good habit for you to get into," Deidara said as he stood up to stretch.

"Awwwh," Naruto whined, "Reading is boring!"

"Reading broadens your horizons and teaches you things. Plus, doesn't being Hokage mean that you have to read _paperwork_." Sakura said with a teasing smile.

Naruto paled before letting out a huge groan. "ARG! Sakura-chan! Don't remind me!"

"Paperwork! Paperwork! Paperwork!" Sakura chanted while Naruto tried to make her stop.

"Sakura-chan! Aniki, make her stop!"

"No way itouto, I don't stop hime from doing anything."

"Ha! Deidara is on _my_ side!"

"Teme?" Naruto asked weakly.

"Paperwork."

"Argh! Not you too!"

Somehow through all their struggles and feeling alienated by others, the four found themselves apart of a team… apart of a family.

* * *

Ages at the end of the chapter:

Sakura-13

Deidara-16

Naruto- 12

Sasuke- 12

I mentioned all their ages in the stories, but, well, just incase you couldn't remember.

Remember:

Itachi put Sasuke under a genjutsu that replayed all the memories that Itachi had of him and Sasuke. The whole Eyes unclouded by hate thing too. He's still quiet and darker than Naruto, but not hateful. Kinda like all those non-massacre stories. Same Sasuke before he went crazy with revenge!

Thankies! -_bows_- Please take care of this story!

Ja Ne

Volleys-chan


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